Last summer I did a piece on the Dead Testaments and was given the opportunity to preview some rough cuts from an EP they had in the works.
The tracks were rough and missing a fair amount of the final instrumentation, but even so the shape of things to come was there and it was clearly going to be very good.
Turns out I may have underestimated the project. It is the best thing I have heard this year. As one reviewer (me) put it, “It is ear candy for those who appreciate the macabre.” Edward Gorey would have illustrated the cover just on general principle were he still around.
Smoothly complex, evocative of the noir work of Cohen, Waits and Cave with maybe a hint of Decemberists to bind it all together, it is beautifully conceived and executed with the highest production values.
Your chance to find out for yourself is this Saturday, Mar 22 at JJs Bohemia. The show starts at 10 p.m. and features the Dead Testaments with special guests Hazes and Gorgeous. The EP will be available for a negligible five bucks, a bargain several times over.
—MTM