Written: 1st December 2024
Having discovered Virginia’s Sever Red a little over a year ago, it has been fascinating to watch their increase in followers. Now with over four hundred thousand streams on Spotify and three hundred thousand on YouTube, coupled with live gigs in and around the Shenandoah Valley, they are certainly spreading the word of their intensely emotional music. The first five songs the band recorded – which are reminiscent of post-grunge, early 2000s hard rock - made up their debut EP Sick and Tormented (see my review of their last single Thief here), which is my most listened to EP of 2024. Now, the band are focusing on the next stage of their evolution and the release of their upcoming single Conjuring.
Opening with a steady, hypnotic bass motif from Tyler McKinney and a short but exquisitely plaintive guitar solo from Josiah Wilder, Sever Red underline their ability to ensnare listeners from the first moments of a song, secure in the apparent ease with which they create beguiling moods. As the song progresses, it is easy to imagine the song’s protagonist sitting alone, reflective and introspective in the upper reaches of a block of flats, a beam from a solitary street light breaking through a crack in the curtains. Thirty seconds into the track, breaking the pensive, cogitative aura, a rhythmic avalanche descends and temporarily pulls the listener from our already developing unease.
Returning to the initial lamenting theme of the introduction, the band settle into the song but haunting vocalisations ensure the listener never rests. Vocalist Kevin Riner has the perfect voice for the deep, contemplative atmospheres that inhabit the songs of Sever Red and on Conjuring, he initially employs a seductive melancholy that seamlessly coalesces with the lyrics. Creep across the floor / If I try to evade / Your darkness pursues more. With a sinister stealth, Conjuring begins to paint its murky picture of futile attempts to escape.
During the choruses, the percussion attacks once more and crunching riffs from Wilder drive the song forward. On the Sick and Tormented EP – which dealt with Riner’s struggles with addiction – the vocals and lyrics were often tortured and anguished. Here, they take on a more analytical, methodical perspective, discerning nuances in his situation but still wavering in his ability to control it. Played by yours truly / Degrade and you fool me / Darkness fills me overflowing / No denying you control me.
The piquant, alluring bass and guitar interaction returns as the second verse begins and our protagonist sinks further into his desire to unravel the enigma of happiness. There is still pain in Riner’s vocal delivery but it has been honed and almost cherished to the point where it actually gives life some meaning - however upsetting. Lay all alone / But a quick little peek / Reassures me your still home. The subtle phrasing of the lyrics and the slight snarl that Riner gives on the word peek shows how mindfulness within songwriting can add destructive venom to what, at first, appears to be a simple line.
Following the second chorus, Conjuring opens up revealing a wonderful low, throbbing bass line that moves and sways with deceptive intent. Above this, Josiah Wilder’s guitar solo begins with long, sorrowful notes that hang like dense fog. As the solo develops, it morphs into a desperate plea, with the concealed agony poised to engulf the protagonist’s consciousness. It is a short but masterful segment of the track.
As the song reaches its climax, the repetitive riffs highlight the cyclical nature of our narrator’s predicament. Riner evokes the mechanical, dehumanising control, where the narrator’s actions are entirely dictated by the enveloping darkness. Puppet on your string / You turn the key / I’ll drive it / You control me. Once the song ends, in another easy to miss but important moment, a final, almost playful distant piano personifies the twisted joy on which the darkness itself thrives.
The emotional weight of the lyrics combines memorably with the balance of vulnerability of the protagonist and the powerful manipulation of our inner demons that are deftly brought to life by the music. Sever Red are so appealing in this nature because so many can relate to the depths of the sombre and shadowy feelings expressed. With Conjuring, Sever Red have taken another step forward in their songwriting and have both reaffirmed and continued to develop their ability for irresistibly engrossing use of song structure. They deserve to be heard by an even wider audience and the nefarious but compelling pulchritude that lies at the heart of Conjuring is the perfect song for achieving that goal as they build towards the release of their next EP.
Conjuring is released on 3rd January 2025
Sever Red online
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