If you have been looking for a haunting yet beautiful piece of shoegaze post-rock, then you’ve been Patient, Patient long enough. Chasma is easily set to be in your top albums of 2018.
Release date: September 14, 2018 | Midsummer Records | Facebook | Bandcamp
To call Chasma a masterpiece is not giving it enough credit. Not often do I come across something so dark and so moving. Coming off the heels of a fantastic first LP, Of Illusions and the Way To Find, Patient, Patient have been able to hone their sound and structure even further without losing their identity. They have created such a somber yet inspiring piece of art. The sounds are deep and intriguing. The mood is melancholy and tense. It is so simple, yet so abstract and complex. To put it bluntly, this is a near perfect album in my eyes.
‘Never been so close before…’
Chasma takes us on an introspective journey. It tries to help reach a center where we can face our fears. “Glared by the Whole” guides us in with a delicate intro that brings a feeling of comfort and ease. The soft vocals lead us further into the elegance of the track. It is then that the song really kicks in, tearing away the peacefulness that was there previously. Then the song falls back into the quaint subtlety of what was before, as if it never happened, only to be torn away again by the song’s conclusion. This is the intent for the entire album. There is a false sense of security you need to face before it can be overtaken. There will be no easy way out, and this realization makes the journey so much more marvelous.
At almost all times throughout the album, there is a feeling of anticipation. This sense is captured wonderfully by “Beamless”, the longest song on the album, clocking in at just over eight minutes. There are many different mood swings, if you will, used throughout the song. It begins with a driving beat full of substance. This gives way to darker scenes, full of heavily distorted bass and drums or whispering guitars overlaid with near-inaudible vocals. Even with all of this, there is nothing that does not belong. There is nothing that should have been omitted. It is a fantastic piece of art that should easily be the defining song not just for Chasma, but for Patient, Patient as a whole.
After all of the ups and downs, we are finally given chance to breathe and feel content. “Beauty” is the most aptly-named songs I can recall in recent time. Patient, Patient bring us their most straight-forward song on the album, and is one of the most important parts of the record. The peaceful feeling that has been teased to us up to this point has finally come to fruition. There is no build-up or tension; rather, there is only thoughtfulness and tranquility. The swooning vocals and gentle instrumentals lull you into a sense of bliss. It is an extraordinary thing to be able to find a track like “Beauty” juxtaposed with the rest of the album and feel like it is right where it belongs.
‘…At at the end, there’s only you.’
The only flaw I can find with Chasma is that it ends. There is a breathtaking amount of passion in each track. The production quality on this record is on par with much more high-profile releases, even with the intentional gloomy overtones. In utilizing Markus Siegenhort, the same engineer used for their previous album, Patient, Patient are able to develop themselves musically without compromising who they are and the sound they create. It is a tremendous feat to find a band like this. Patient, Patient have brought us an absolutely incredible record filled with emotion and wonder. A very high standard has been set for their next project, and with what they have done with this, there is no doubt it will be just as amazing.
