Oftentimes, a musician is identified by a title rather than their name, such as how Bruce Springsteen is “the Boss” or how that guy from the Foo Fighters is “that guy from Nirvana.” With their new release Initiation, ERAAS define their title. It’s nowhere near as playful, but with their combination of haunting gothic synthesizers and Brooklyn-based hip-hop beats, ERAAS earns their title: “painters.” Sure, it’s no “The Boss,” but there are few albums that can quite so vividly paint a picture in the minds of their listener.
The opening track, “Looking Glass/Pettibon,” leaves the listener stranded at home, lyrics telling them they’re not alone. The industrial beats and droning synthesizers build an intensity and feeling of abandonment—a feeling that doesn’t leave the listener for most of the album. Echoed vocals and haunting synthesizers build empty gothic cathedrals (“Old Magic” and “Initiation”) and foreboding shorelines (“Circling”), while other songs leave the listener on the streets of Brooklyn—but a darker Brooklyn, where local hip-hop roots are mixed with gothic post-rock sounds to create deserted, rain-drenched streets. Images of traditionally safe and beautiful places are distorted into the sets of artistic horror films, painted as the last place one wants to find themselves.
This horror element is what has come to be much of ERAAS’s defining sound, but this album seems to break from that. The feeling of being alone is strong through the entire album, but it sounds less dire once “Guardian/Decent” is reached. This tone shift might be the only drag in an otherwise beautiful album, though the song made it a far easier listen. Musically, though, the duo sounds as tight and purposed as ever, not wasting a single drone or beat.
Initiation can be a haunting album at times, and there’s some weight to a few songs. But, while it isn’t the most tonally consistent, the album paints beautifully ill-boding images of abandoned streets and tormented houses that ERAAS clearly does well. It’s a visual experience for those with open ears—one meant to be as seen and felt as it is heard. With Initiation, ERAAS proves they are more than musicians: they’re painters.
Grade: B+
