Written: 7th January 2025
Formed a little over a dozen years ago and based in St. Joseph, Missouri, instrumental duo Sisters Of… (drummer / guitarist Aaron Coker and bassist / guitarist Chris Clark) create lush, sentimentally powerful sonic landscapes. With one foot in post-metal and one in post-rock, the band - whose influences include Russian Circles, Isis, Mogwai and Cvlt of Luna - fuse heaviness with cinematic allure. Following two full length albums in 2013 and 2015 plus several stand alone singles, Marie / Michel is a two track EP running to seventeen and a half minutes and designed to be experienced as a single, cohesive piece.
First track Marie opens with deep, gently undulating synths that immediately create a feeling of unease and longing. Sounds which present as swirling, questioning voices mouth unintelligible words add further layers to the atmosphere of discomfort. Sisters Of… understand the importance of letting themes embed in a listener’s consciousness, not moving too rapidly and allowing us the opportunity for our own thoughts about the music to manifest. The first two minutes of the seven minute Marie subtly build as initially tentative, then gradually more insistent guitar chords are added to the mix. The occasional beat of a drum begins to gradually develop a sense of urgency but still we are left contemplating their next move. It is with some relief that at little past the two minute mark, the track opens up and the percussion fully joins. During the midway point of Marie, Sisters Of… express more of their metallic side, the intensity building with each passing moment. After four and a half minutes, the majority of instruments cease abruptly as the mysterious vocalisations return. There is the aura of something unresolved as the drums return once more but this time hidden, partly muted. On a track that was “born from the feeling of missing someone deeply” Sisters Of… achieve the painting of a range of deeply personal emotions without the use of a single word. Just as it seems the track will take another turn, it ends. There is a moment of silence and the duo launch instantly into the ten and a half minute Michel.
Michel opens with altogether more power and vehemence from the outset. Rapid, crunching riffs indicate an unfiltered, angered response to the loss illustrated during Marie. With moments that betray a love of heavy metal and even flickers of thrash, the duo combine to drive forward a persistently increasing climate of ferocity. However, they never lose their sense of melody and structure and they continue to provide the opportunity to sink deeply into their music and lose yourself within the thematic depths. Following a central section with a more relaxed, repeating guitar motif, the vigour and ardour of the music increases once again and the metallic riffs resume. The final two minutes of the track see a return to the feeling of disquiet and apprehension of the first moments of Marie. However, here they are distinctly more visceral and agitated as distorted noises overlap and screams echo in the distance. As the instruments begin to die away, these move from one speaker to another, intertwining and becoming more sinister as they do, until eventually subsiding to nothing.
Despite living across the street from each other, Sisters Of… compose their music remotely, exchanging parts and ideas digitally. This means that both members of the duo add their own layers and thoughts without direct influence from the other. On Marie / Michel, it is abundantly clear just how much time has been spent intricately weaving the different parts they add to the recordings. It is an EP that is best experienced through headphones or loud with the lights off. With its running time divided between sections of post-metal, post-rock and dark ambiance, the EP will appeal to a range of listeners, and especially those who enjoy the challenge of creating their own mental pictures and words to link with the undeniably beguiling world that Sisters Of… portray. A release that is more than worthy of your time.
Marie / Michel is released on 10th January 2024.
Sisters Of... online
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