In a world eternally immersed in drama, the music of French band Endless Floods provides a pretty fitting soundtrack for this never-ending spectacle. The band’s post-metal, shoegazey, doom laden mayhem comes across draped in these cosmic theatrics. Their upcoming EP Passages, set for release in May, is an expansion on the band’s heavily emotive sounds. It’s a lot of marvelous merry-making from three people immersed in the rich history of Bordeaux. Everything Is Noise is pumped to premiere the video for the first single off the new EP called “Deuxième Monde”. According to the band:
‘”Deuxième Monde” describes a parallel universe filled with gigantic structures where rites of passage unfold in blood and fire. The track opens with Bathory’s goat standing atop the highest temple of the Nightosphere, leading to a sacrificial ritual on a worldwide scale. At the heart of the ceremony comes a slow-motion scene of chaos, where nearly smiling calm faces can be seen despite the surrounding violence. Finally, the perspective rises: immense gateways between worlds open and swallow those who choose to cross the threshold. In the end, all that remains is a sense of bliss — a period of peace until the next rite beneath a long late-summer sunset over reddish ruins.’
The band’s music lives in this ancient, timeless world of fantastical pursuits, expressing the folly inherent to running a fool’s errand. The southern coast of France sweeps through the oceans of moods the band plows through, like waves forced upwards by an ever-changing Earth. Within eight minutes, the three set-pieces that construct the song unfold, like the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another. This is often said about post-metal in particular: it’s not afraid to tell stories that deal with the Big Questions, even if they’re nested in the tales of the underworld and alternate universes.
There’s a fabulous virtuosity within the composition; however, this isn’t referring to the musicianship. The musicianship is muscular and confident, and the band makes a righteous noise for three people. The real virtuosity is in the sheer tenacity with which Endless Floods approaches the song-writing.
The bombastic opening of “Deuxième Monde” does, indeed, portend the opening of gateways to other worlds, even those buried in the deepest, dankest, dirtiest reaches of our eternally damned souls. At the three minute mark, a single note drones over clean guitar riffs, drifting from one portal to the next, like an early Russian Circles piece. It’s the dive into the slow-motion understanding of ourselves, slowly and painfully unfolding over decades, leading to redemption, a smile amongst the pain. The beautiful outro unexpectedly transitions into a late ’90s indie guitar song, a simple keyboard melody played over some mournful Modest Mouse chords. Like the chapters of a book, these distinct sections help keep you from getting lost in the letters (or notes, for that matter).
It’s not as if Endless Floods just appeared out of nowhere. They’ve been plying their craft for almost a decade now, and the songs on their upcoming EP clearly display that. There’s a unique beauty to the band, a kind of fluid transition from one musical entry point to the next. The ethereal keyboards and the female-male vocals shape the essence of these songs, but not in a performative way. Quite the opposite. If Endless Floods know anything, it’s that no matter what world we find ourselves in, no performance can outmaneuver the drama inherent to being alive on this fucked-up planet.
Passages will be released on May 22nd by Permafrost Records / Araki Records / Yoyodyne Records. Follow the French doomsters on their Instagram, and buy the album on their Bandcamp. And good luck to you, no matter which world you’re on.
