Released a year later, The Deadchrist pushed the jesus is a path to heaven project towards a more diverse palette while only deepening its thematic concerns. “There are elements of David Bazan in the religious guilt and fury of the lyrics, Sufjan Stevens in the soft vocals, as well as the likes of talons’ in the despondent quiet,” as our review noted, and the results was a sound able to embrace seemingly contradictory moods in one complete package. A feat inherently religious, where mortal insignificance and supernatural sublime collide into something doom-laden, unknowable and holding potential salvation. “The simultaneity of darkness and light is the spirit of the deadchrist,” we continued in our piece:

Take the pain and beauty of ‘the fawn’, where death is both an end and a beginning, or ‘lord, you called’ with its unique blend of optimism and torment. Hoban has described the jesus is the path to heaven project as one exploring the “effect religious trauma has on the human body,” though it stands apart in how it does this with such a direct engagement with Christian themes. Suffering as the central tenet of existence. Agony and love as the same thing.

This summer sees Hoban and co. return with brand new full-length Power !, and lead single ‘The Lord Has Bled A Line’ suggests a continued, ever-deepening engagement with this core aesthetic. If its predecessor could be said to have displayed marginally warmer or more personable strokes, ‘The Lord Has Bled A Line’ snaps back toward desolation. An expansive, brooding number which possesses an almost medieval air, tapping into ancient frameworks of fear and belief and dragging them into the contemporary moment. “The Lord has bled / from heart to heart, / down the Fall Line,” Hoban sings in the opening lines, his vocals appearing after five minutes of building instrumentation as though precipitating from the pregnant air. “The Lord has bled a line / a thousand miles across / the beltway of 40, / to the shoreline / where He found me.” As ever, there’s a devotional quality to the sound, though one which bends towards the apocalyptic, asking the question that seems most pertinent in the project’s entire body of work. What is it that lies at the end of the line drawn by the Lord, deliverance or damnation?

Album art buy Emily Warner

The post jesus is the path to heaven – The Lord Has Bled A Line appeared first on Various Small Flames.

Remember, while it’s always tempting to put a big fat zero for ‘name your price’ releases, you can give a little something. Bands need to eat too, and would doubtless appreciate even the smallest donation for their efforts. You’ll want them to appear in your Bandcamp collection anyway, so you’ll have to give something.

Alanna McArdle – Reticular (REVIEW) / Bedroom/Balloons (REVIEW)
(RIYL: folk, bedroom pop, sad, Sarah Winchester)

Ama Moii – Flown (REVIEW)
(RIYL: bedroom, ambient, lo-fi, soft music)

Andrew Weathers – I Am Happy When I Am Moving
(RIYL: experimental, cosmic Appalachian mountain tunes)

Animal Camera – Aniimal Crackers
(RIYL: noise pop, psychedelic ARMS)

Beverly Tender – Lord Mayor Makes 1000 Speeches
(RIYL: bedroom pop, lo-fi, Baby Mollusk, Whatever Dad)

The Bombshells – Bake Sale Hotties
(RIYL: riot grrl, The Runaways, Le Tigre)

Big Eater – In Between
(RIYL: laidback indie pop, Yo La Tengo, Mac DeMarco)

Blue Smiley – OK
(RIYL: lo-fi, fuzz rock, Alex G)

Bobby’s Oar – The Weeds in Your Garden
(RIYL: folk-punk, Among Giants, The Front Bottoms)

Boosegumps – / B-Sides (REVIEW 1 | REVIEW 2 | INTERVIEW)
(RIYL: bedroom pop, acoustic, Free Cake For Every Creature)

Brightside – The World Reversed
(RIYL: indie pop, pop-punk, The World Is A Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die)

Brittle Brian – Verisune
(RIYL: bedroom pop, Frankie Cosmos, Bellows)

Broken Beak – Curse Burner
(RIYL: bedroom pop, Modern Baseball)

Bryant Eugene Vazquez – Blue Hours
(RIYL: folk, lo-fi, Wes Tirey, M. Ward)

Captain Samurai – Hey Thanks Goodbye
(RIYL: indie rock, soft punk, LVL UP)

CATAPHANT – Half Dead EP
(RIYL: hip hop, experimental, pop)

Cat Be Damned – Six Songs
(RIYL: ambient, Ricky Eat Acid, the sounds of space)

Catholic Easter Colours – Not the Silence That Was There Before
(RIYL: indie pop, cinematic rock, ambient)

Cemeteries – Barrow
(RIYL: ambient, experimental, dream pop)

Clams – PDA Queen
(RIYL: lo-fi, indie pop, bedroom pop)

src=”http://www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/a3515065540_10.jpg” alt=”a3515065540_10″ width=”550″ height=”550″ />

Coffee Pot – &
(RIYL: fuzz rock, psych, lo-fi)

src=”http://www.varioussmallflames.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/a2818963354_10.jpg” alt=”a2818963354_10″ width=”550″ height=”550″ />

Colour Me Brittle – The First Bad Man
(RIYL: lo-fi, jangle pop, twee indie)

Coping Skills – Everything is stupid + I Hate it
(RIYL: riot grrrls, bummer pop, Cyberbully Mom Club)

Cuddle Formation – ⊙﹏⊙ ♫･​*​:​.​｡. .｡​.​:​*​･ (demos)
(RIYL: bedroom pop, guitar loops, devotional)

We’ll be sharing a new section of the list every day this week, so be sure to check back for the complete collection. If you find something you like, or think we missed something life-changing, then why not let us know on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr or good old email.

The post Favourite Free Music of 2015: A – C appeared first on Various Small Flames.

RIYL: Labradford, Yowler, moments of late-night reflective melancholy

Favourite Tracks:

You can buy Sleepwalker now from the Long Beard Bandcamp page, and on cassette or vinyl from Team Love Records.

The post Flash Review: Long Beard – Sleepwalker appeared first on Various Small Flames.