Everyone, nowadays, lightly throws around the word “unique”, but trust me when I say, one has to struggle really hard to find something akin to UNIVERSE217. If you are not acquainted with their musical journey, I won’t waste time to describe a sound which people can debate for hours on, what influences it’s based on or what kind of genre their music is. I’ll just advise you to listen to their masterpieces in chronological order, so that you’ll get familiar with their process and growth, through this music trip of darkness and redemption.
It’s been six years since I first crossed roads with their peculiar, yet always enticing sound and it’s been an amazing ride, so far. This ride also made me realize, that although the majority of the familiar elements of their music are here, a “Change” has indeed come upon it. The loose structures are ever-present, experienced through a more compact sound and process this time. However, that does not stop them, from delivering the goods they always promise. Attaching a dream like essence, to a creation that smells of early doom/death in its core, UNIVERSE217 eerily paint crude pictures of the darkest and most fearsome parts of our subconscious. Dream doom? Is it even possible? Well, this band has made it possible since their beginning.
One might find carefully placed hints of post metal elements, in their visual and ethereal construction of sound, in an album that as it progresses, becomes hazier and more adventurous, like a dream or an outer body experience. The difference on the effect the last three tracks have upon the listener, in contrast to the first half, is mesmerizing. Notes that would be classified as deeply depressing or even spiritually mortifying, are elevated to a level of grandiose awe, thanks to Tania’s unbelievable voice. This woman’s transcending, one of a kind voice, knows no barriers. The liberating anger and force she releases, the heights she reaches and the focusing she imposes on the listener, are rarely found, in any genre of music, to say the least.
This album, similar to their previous ones, holds great repetitive value and has a transforming quality. No matter how many times one listens to it, they’ll find something new and wonderous to get hooked on, like a never ending treasure hunt or a clue that can be followed to show a whole new story. No matter what the listener’s emotional state might be, “Change” will transform in miraculous ways to fit that state, and give it a deep, ethereally spiritual essence, that always makes sense and always, in the most powerful and introspective of ways, accompanies these thoughts. “Change”, is another stone on the mountain of darkness UNIVERSE217 have been building, and it shows that, after many releases, not only do they not find themselves stuck on a loop, they progress and find new ways to add more layers, to the quality of their music. Once again, they earn the respect of all their fans.
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