Rosy Finch Premiere “Purgatorio” Video; Seconda Morte EP out Nov. 4
Posted in Bootleg Theater, Reviews on October 21st, 2022 by JJ Koczan
Spanish heavy alt and sludge rockers Rosy Finch will release Seconda Morte on Nov. 4 through Lay Bare Recordings, Discos Macarras and LaRubia Producciones. The four-song offering runs 28 minutes long and follows the band’s 2020 sophomore album, Scarlet (review here), as a flowing conceptual piece drawing strongly from 1990s riot grrrl aesthetics while functioning in a range of sonic styles, from hard-hitting aggro fire to answer the intensity of Scarlet to more serene fare like that at the outset of nine-minute closer “Paradiso” or the strum of the later not-quite-hidden acoustic finish. In particular — and this is something you’ll see in the video premiering for the penultimate “Purgatorio” below as well — founding guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Mireia Porto seems to pay homage to Courtney Love and Hole‘s ’94 album, Live Through This, but immediately Rosy Finch are on their own wavelength musically, opening Seconda Morte as they do with the gradual beginning of the deeply ambient instrumental “Selva Oscura,” which prefaces many of the smoothly executed volume trades and style swaps to come.
Drummer and returning producer Jose F. Rojo recorded the EP — one more song and for sure it’d be a full-length, even with that long instrumental opener, and it’s on the line between EP and LP anyway, but they call it the former so I’m rolling with it — with Porto also credited as producer, and one can hear the depth of their approach in the layered growls and harsh vocals of “Inferno,” the wrenching lead guitar of that song’s guitar solo and the sudden drop to organ sounds and ethereal fare that precedes the next turn to the verse. Here Rosy Finch are part-Pantera, part-early-Tool, and unquestionably in command tonally as well as in the aggression level of their delivery. Longer than “Selva Oscura,” “Inferno” sets the shorter-song-into-longer-song A/B pattern that plays out across “Purgatorio” and “Paradiso” still to come, the two five-minute tracks each giving over to something that reaches broader, though one could hardly accuse “Purgatorio” of wanting for atmosphere with its post-rock wisps of floating guitar early and gradual coalescing in a pre-chorus that holds its threat in the drum crash before receding and telling you without telling 
you that the next time that part comes around, you’d best watch your ass.
The making-good on that promise is no doubt a big part of why “Purgatorio” was picked as the first single from Seconda Morte, and I find I’m even less able to argue listening to the driving nod and the band’s ability to keep it together even as the song pushes into an increasingly furious procession. At 5:06, “Purgatorio” is the shortest track — “Selva Oscura” is 5:18, but would be a less representative single — but it emphasizes the fluidity of the changes Rosy Finch are able to make throughout Seconda Morte, and all the more for arriving ahead of the from-the-ground-up beginning of “Paradiso.” In its just-under-10 minutes, the finale moves from heavy post-rock and psychedelic hypnotics into riffy triumphalism and storm-conjuring, maybe a bit of Viaje a 800 influence resonating subconsciously there, back to the float, back to the crunch, and as it crosses the midpoint threshold, into a more melodic but still weighted dreamscape, consuming and growing fuller in its wash as it moves through. You don’t know it at first, but that’s the trick the band are so able to pull off in introducing their shifts so smoothly that if you don’t follow closely, you can end up looking back after a minute and wondering how you got there. That’s a compliment to the band as well as a boon to repeat listens.
It’s also perhaps nowhere so prevalent as in the final turn undertaken by “Paradiso,” which is to leave that wash behind on a slow fade, patient noise setting a tide-going-out bed for the hard strum of acoustic that Porto‘s last vocals will soon follow, solo, voice-and-guitar style. One is reminded of Nirvana and the swath of acoustic pieces they inspired near the ends of records with “Something in the Way,” but the mood of “Paradiso” at the finish is Rosy Finch‘s own, and that the guitar sounds a little beat up is a reasoned choice to add to that mood. It’s not like there weren’t perfectly tuned instruments around, but sometimes that’s not what you want, and like so many of the moves Porto, Rojo and the band make here, it works in no small part because they are assured enough in their purposes to nail it. You can (and mostly should) do whatever you want — doom what thou wilt, if you want it another way — so long as nobody gets hurt who doesn’t want to and you’ve got creative intent backing you up. As they move closer toward a decade’s tenure, Rosy Finch have obviously learned that lesson well, and they have the presence of craft to bring their audience along for the ride.
“Purgatorio” doesn’t necessarily give the whole story of Seconda Morte in terms of sound, then, but it does showcase the atmosphere and general vibe of the EP. You’ll find the video below, followed immediately by more from the PR wire.
Enjoy:
Rosy Finch, “Purgatorio” video premiere
Today sees the release of Purgatorio, the first single and video taken from the bands highly anticipated EP Seconda Morte, a moody, thrilling journey based on the poem The Divine Comedy, which releases on the 4th November 2022 via Lay Bare Recordings, Discos Macarras, and LaRubia Producciones.
“Purgatorio is the second part of the Dante’s The Divine Comedy and the first track on side two of the new album.” Says vocalist and guitarist Mireia Porto. She delves a little deeper into the meaning behind the song, “It’s about Dante’s journey through Mount Purgatory, describing the climb to the seven terraces which all represent the seven deadly sins. The punished souls residing there are suffering and expecting to receive forgiveness and Dante believes their sins arise from love.”
The video was directed Mireia and shot by Marcos Bañó at Creative Madness Lab, as well in a mountainous red-sand desert, representing the Mount of Purgatory, where Dante is watching a sinner stuck on the terrace of the wrathful. “For me, this is the most common sin: harm of others for not facing your own demons.” Comments Mireia.
PRE-ORDER Seconda Morte from http://www.rosyfinch.bandcamp.com
Tracklisting:
1. Selva Oscura
2. Inferno
3. Purgatorio
4. Paradiso
The trio burst onto the scene in 2013, founded by singer/guitarist Mireia Porto (who also later played with stoner doom phenoms, Hela). Having released two successful full-length albums and an EP, the line-up changed in 2019 during the recording of their barnstormer 2020 album, ‘Scarlet’. Óscar Soler (previously of space-rockers Pyramidal) and Juanjo Ufarte (from psychedelic doom merchants, Grajo) took over on bass and drums respectively, and a new day dawned in the Rosy Finch camp, one filled with heightened aggression and intent.
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