In the next few years we are going to see a lot of COVID music and the isolation, pain, paranoia, and misery that came out of it. There has been a bunch already, but we have only scratched the surface I am willing to bet.
Enter Hellish Form and their second full-length Remains. Formed last year, the band is a two-piece funeral doom/drone project featuring Willow Ryan (Body Void, ex-Atone, ex-Devoid) and Jacob Lee (Elder Devil, Skull Incision, Graven Maul, Keeper). The California/Vermont team up to craft a sound that is both crushing and meditative. While a lot of funeral doom sounds like deep cavern slowly caving in, Hellish Form weave between nightmares and dreamscapes. And they are ready to unleash “Ache”, the second track on the album.
“Ache”, in scope of the rest of the record, is a track that could adequately summarize Remains. It starts out warm and slow. It feels like a strong breeze blowing over a field as the sunsets—an image I cannot get out of my head every time I listen to the track. But as the track moves on, it starts to get heavier, and a deadly moon rises over the track. The moon becomes stark and the air cold. But just as Hellish Form starts to become oppressive, they back off and the track becomes dream-like. The synths carry the track and build an epic kind of air. It is moody and quite beautiful.
A quote from Ryan (they/them) had this to say about the track:
“’Ache’ is about isolation and its strain on one's identity. It wasn't intended to be a quarantine song, but it's easy and not totally inappropriate to read it as one. Musically, we wanted to do something that played more toward our synth and pop influences while keeping our sound intact. We're very pleased with how the song came together.”
Remains will be coming out on Translation Loss on June 25th. Those of you that know Translation Loss know that they release stellar bands. Hellish Form is no exception. Crush your Wednesday with this one. Listen below and preorder here.
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