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Amos/Anon - Songs of a Tortured Soul EP Review

02 Feb 2013 // A review by Miss_Jukebox

Songs of a Tortured Soul is a demonstration of courage in progress. The latest EP from gothic artists [Amos/Anon] is to date their most heartfelt release. It takes their subversive darkness and spikes it with pure heartbreak. This work in particular is them at their most vulnerable. Tortured Soul is a collection of poems from the soul, set to acoustic whispers. 

‘Reap the Sown’ is a classic [Amos/Anon] song with brooding vocals and lumbering chords. But the work moves into more diffused areas of musicality. ‘My Soul Evacuated’ and ‘Here There Be Lions’ have a gentler musical approach from previous work. The beauty in these tracks is that in spite of the desolate lyrics, there is the strange ray of hope that everything will be okay. 

That is the message of the entire EP; everything will be okay. Just like in ’The Forecast’ the rain will stop one day. It is just a matter of when. The theme through each track is about escape; about the desperate need to break free of the chains, the anchors that can weigh you down. It is about a real fight against depression. ‘So It Goes’ is a song that encapsulates every note on the music score of depression. In each strum of the guitar, in every breath of lyrics you feel the pain of struggling with the darkness of the mind. The tortured soul in this case is one that is trapped in the destruction left by depression. And it just needs to escape. 

This work is not musically polished. It is rough and unfinished. But that is what happened in the creative process for Tortured Soul. Depression struck its crippling fingers on it, and this is what resulted- a truly honest perspective into the mind of the depressed. It is raw and it is vulnerable. And to put yourself out there so stripped and bare and honest, it doesn’t show weakness, it shows strength and it shows courage. 

This is an album that few will understand. But [Amos/Anon] have never been about mass appeal. Their work has always been about emission rather than expression; it is a need to get these bottled emotions out for themselves rather than to demonstrate it to everyone else. Some might call this self-indulgence. But in fact it is not. Tortured Soul might end up being overlooked by a lot of people. But there will be a few who it will completely resonate with. To everyone who has ever been depressed, this is probably one of the most meaningful works you will hear. [Amos/Anon] might not realise it, but in their personal need for escape from the darkness of the mind they have actually provided an avenue for escape for others too. So self-indulgence this is not. Despairingly inspiring however, I would argue that.

-Janise.

 

About Amos/Anon

If you haven't heard of Amos/Anon, then everything is fine. The system is working. Keep calm and stop thinking. Close your eyes and let capitalism lull you back into a dreamless slumber.

"...it’s Kiwi from end to end, indie and awesome. The more I listen, the more I want!"

"...unashamedly bolshie and brazen. There is no room for tenderness here."

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Amos/Anon

Releases

The Empty Afterwards
Year: 2021
Type: Album
V H E M T
Year: 2019
Type: EP
Demos
Year: 2017
Type: Album
Postmortem
Year: 2016
Type: EP
Toil On, Poor Heart
Year: 2016
Type: EP
Anomy
Year: 2015
Type: Album
Gothique Doesn't Exist
Year: 2014
Type: EP
Beneath The Pound Of Flesh
Year: 2014
Type: Album
Thanatos
Year: 2013
Type: Album
Songs of a Tortured Soul
Year: 2012
Type: EP
Demos
Year: 2012
Type: Album
Darkness From Light
Year: 2011
Type: Album
My Schizophrenic Acoustic
Year: 2010
Type: EP
theLachrymist
Year: 2009
Type: Album
Systema
Year: 2008
Type: EP
Gothique
Year: 2007
Type: EP

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