AMORTALS
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
October 5th, 2010
Amortals at Rifflandia 3; first act of Friday night. There are so many bands to choose from and in most cases, all you have to go on is a cool name and an intriguing 30-word blurb in the official guide. “There's something going on with these guys,” it said, referencing Nine Inch Nails, Joy Division and Interpol as comparables. We couldn't resist.
Being the first of five bands can be tough, but they had us hooked about midway through the first song, K-9. It was catchy, for starters. Then keyboardist Renee Michele Walrafen picked up a flute for the chorus (counting her cheerleader-inspired black pom poms, she actually pulls triple duty). It was obvious something really was “going on” - a band with strong influences but creating a new wave sound uniquely its own.
New Wave is a vague genre – almost too broad to define usefully – but the band doesn't flinch from it. Lead singer Michael Goudge announced to the crowd that upcoming act Growler said “they eat New Wave bands for breakfast,” and offered Amortals as an appetizer.
Goudge himself can sound like a lot of different artists in one set. The group we took in the show with was a very demographically diverse crew, as evidenced by the reactions to him. I heard strong overtones of Ian Curtis, the youngest mentioned the Tea Party's Jeff Martin, and the oldest (by a handful of years) said Jim Morrison.
The Amortals are a very sonically-driven band. There are a lot of tonal elements at play, creating a dramatic sound: tragically heroic, moody, and yet passionate.
-Maclean Kay, Times-Colonist columnist, Victoria, B.C. - -Maclean Kay, Times-Colonist columnist, Victoria, B.C. (independant review)
Discography
Just finished recording our debut CD, "Assume the Superposition".
Photos
Bio
Incorporating elements of New Wave, electronica and folk noir, AMORTALS are an emerging band from Victoria and Vancouver, BC. They sound like a synthesis of Dead Can Dance, Interpol and Massive Attack.
With determinedly optimistic lyrics climbing a wall of moody, sometimes aggressive sound, the band seeks to blaze an existential trail into this still unknown century; where quantum physics begins to resemble magical thinking, and the Universe appears to be looking at itself through each of our eyes.
Highlights to date include playing the Rifflandia Festival (Sept. 23-26, 2010 in Victoria, B.C.), three of their songs being used in an upcoming feature film (Nighthawks), and one song being used as the soundtrack for the film's trailer.
Influences:
Interpol, TV On the Radio, Massive Attack, Glas Vegas, Spiritualized, Marshall Mcluhan, Terrence McKenna, Amon Tobin, Sneaker Pimps, PJ Harvey, Swans, Joy Division, Dandy Warhols, the Cure, Love and Rockets, Dead Can Dance, Underworld, Doo-wop, Trip-hop, Psychedelic Furs, old Spirituals...
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