WL//WH Album Review SCHONWALD
Italian dark-weavers Schonwald published their brand new opus “Abstraction” LP earlier on February 16, 2021 via Manic Depression Records, with 10 songs to die for. Here, Alessandra Gismondi and Luca Bandini wrote, recorded, mixed, and mastered some pretty edgy and astonishing new chapters for their journey through the dark of our times;
“A voyage through introspection of the 21st century’s utopian hopes” as they mention in their Bandcamp page.
The fourth album which follows the critically acclaimed “Night Idyll” LP (2017) sounds as I wanted it to be, one triumph for the darkwave by a band that evolved nicely and so much in this gap with the only ‘threat’ being the 2-track “Tempest/Neptune” release also in February 2021, and with none of the two included in the new album.
All things we adore in our music are in this epic new record. All things we adore Schonwald are here at the front. The “Abstraction” LP is huge, I mean really huge darkwave music for the ages. It is a collection of literally 10 maxi singles at large with some of the most imposing and striking new anthems inside. The first one to appear was “Fall Apart” with an official video last November, and even though is indeed a glorious track, it is just a step down to this wonderful abyss.
The duo weaves their net with the most delicate and the strongest thread. The connection through the songs is like an ongoing unbreakable textile of the highest quality. In a sense, it may sound like a concept album, and really maybe…
“Abstraction LP is inspired by esoteric hymns, aesthetic mantras, echoes of savage human nature. A voyage through introspection of the 21st century’s utopian hopes”,
and maybe that’s why they blended it all with post-punk de luxe sounding, with shoegaze wings not as a trick but as a natural necessity in the design, the deathrock rambling at the top of the waves (occasionally), and of course all the darkwave chanting like ‘explaining’ the words to the microphone.
The very scenic and theatrical new album by Schonwald as if they painted that poor humanity we are in and it is their very best ever work so far. The thematic album, with brilliant inspiration, I am almost speechless with it, I am so amazed by this work! Ι got lost with devotion to the killer triplet in the row at the middle of the album “Echo’s Dream”, “Passion Of Lover”, “Reflex”, as if I hadn’t properly estimated the value and the dangers of the trip this far and had to see clearly what a glorious album is this. Let the “Abstraction” new album charm you with its entire creation, the record is a whole new darkwave ‘gallery’ with 10 fascinating exhibits!
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Written by Loud Cities’ Mike
