Tsunami Sea is one of those rare albums which actually lives up to the badge “highly anticipated” that we see stuck on so many upcoming releases. As with many of the genuinely “big” albums, we don’t get them for as long before release date as there’s always that risk of leak, but after only a single listen I knew this was one we wanted to get something up about. It’s epic.
Spiritbox seemed to explode out of nowhere a couple of years ago though they’ve been on the go for eight years now. With a mixture of brutality and ethereality, their sound encompasses a lot that is popular right now, but manages to blend it together in a style that’s very unique to them. Tsunami Sea cements this, reinforcing that this is Spiritbox. They know what they’re doing, they’re damn good at it, and it’s only going to get better.
Tsunami Sea is a challenge to review as there is so much going on, and in such a wonderful way. Every song is glorious, fantastic chaos with so many styles, tones and layers that I honestly don’t know where to start. Do I tell you about the way that Courtney LaPlante’s vocals make the hairs on your arms go up one second, then scrape down your back like rusty nails the next? That the use of effects on the vocals don’t distract from anything at all, but add to an industrial overtone that surrounds the whole album? That Mike Stringer’s guitars are to all over the place that it sounds like he’s playing three at once at times? That Josh Gilbert’s bass keeps your head banging when the rest of your body feels like it should be in fight or flight mode? That Zev Rosenberg’s drums, also seemingly digitally altered at times it seems, do more than keep a rhythm… they’re part of a soundscape?
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Oh, I guess I’ll tell you all of that. There’s so much more, too. I adore “Perfect Soul” (the second single) which soars and elevates despite the harsh background notes. I don’t know why it works as well as it does… but it does. You then compare it to something like “Soft Spine” which is at the opposite end of the scale, shredding and dismembering with each over-distorted guitar chord, and you truly realise the extent of Spiritbox’s range. At first listen, a wall of noise but focus and you can pick up on so much. This style of music doesn’t just benefit from repeated listens, it demands them.
The title track as well. Wow. Straddling the melodic and the harsh, but reining things in, this is probably the perfect introduction to what Spiritbox are capable of. It has a haunting Sleep Token vibe, but is very much the product of British Columbia’s finest.
For every song which shreds your skin there is another which lifts your heart. Tsunami Sea is a superb release and one that very much has me jumping onto the Spiritbox bandwagon after failing to grab hold as it passed me during the Eternal Blue album cycle.
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Tsunami Sea is out on March 7th
Header image by Beyond Punk Photography
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