Brooklyn alternative-rock band Echo Bloom returns with Parousia, released September 11, a live companion album to this year’s Anabasis. Where Anabasis traced the restless, searching, and deliberately constructed ascent, Parousia captures what happens when these songs get to exist in real time.
Williamsburg-based Echo Bloom is comprised of Kyle Evans (Guitar/Vocals/Keyboards), Cody Rahn (Drums), Justin Garcia (Guitar), and Alex Minier (Bass). Frontman Kyle Evans has undergone a series of musical transformations over his musical career, experimenting with psychedelic folk and Americana. Anabasis and live companion Parousia adopts a heavier and more severe sound, existing more in the realm of experimental art-rock adjacent to bands like Tool and Nine Inch Nails.
Recorded at Applehead Studios in Woodstock, Parousia delivers a remarkably rich representation of Echo Bloom in performance. Engineered by Mike Tierney, last year’s Grammy winner for Best Engineered Classical Recording, the recording preserves the nuances and impact of the live set while keeping musicianship front and center.
Parousia is both a companion piece and a reckoning. It’s a kaleidoscope album exploring loss, grief, and purpose through tension between distorted guitar riffs paired with deep growling vocals opposed to floating falsetto and echoey chords.
Tracks like opener “Piranesi,” “Bleeding into Gold,” and “Spoiled” are Parousia‘s most visceral and aggressive. Heavy guitar breakdowns, propulsive drums, and screaming vocal performances are unyielding, demanding full attention and emotional connection from listeners.
Within this intense instability, however, listeners still find room to breathe. Tracks like “Ozymandias,” and “Swans” release some of the built-up tension of the album in emotional reflection. Most notably, the track “To Hope” in its live conception offers an alternative look at the track. As opposed to the studio recording’s intense Reznor-esque driving drum loop, the echoing and languid guitar chords underscore Evans’ deep, moody vocals to reveal a glimpse into the emotions of the song.
The tension between the visceral outward emotion and inward reflection is fully realized in the albums final tracks. “Surrender” offers an unexpected journey, beginning with quiet and aimless vocalization before propelling into the albums most rhythmically complex track. This song is marked by the hypnotic circular guitar riff and driving drums, before a final dynamic release into quiet reflection once again.
The live format of Parousia is a unique reimagination of Anabasis, as it allows for both tensions to build and authenticity to breathe. This immersive and unfiltered album makes a strong case for the power of live experience.
For more information on the band, check out echobloom.com.
Listen to full album below.
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