Presenting an invigorating rock sound, The Fallacy is the enveloping new EP from The Kartetch. The Eastern Europe-based project embraces heavy guitar tones with shoegaze/grunge aesthetical intertwining, often blending subdued vocal tones with ferocious bursts of guitars. Climactic structures persist within as well, melding with their self-described “loud guitar music based on principles,” ethos.
“The Sightseeing Night” wastes no time in establishing the album’s delectably grimy atmosphere. Murky waves of moody guitar distortion intertwines with steady percussion and whisper-y vocal momentum; the contrast of subdued vocal haunts with ardent guitar power makes for an inviting yet foreboding intrigue. The conclusion finds the vocals fully submerging in the beautiful wall of guitars, closing with a percussive pit-pattering and touch of feedback. “Sycophants” ensues with an impressively dynamic tonal range — traversing with a consistent post-punk/shoegaze unfolding, and into a striking movement past the three-minute mark — where hushed vocals and static-y darkness escalate into a fervent send-off of gauzy guitar layers.
Another stunner, “On Time” launches into a sweltering rock heaviness from the get-go. A bass-heavy presence follows, as the vocals attain a spoken-word briskness and growling, venomous distortion coincides with the vocals’ ascent into a raspy vigor; it’s another fantastic display of The Kartetch’s knack for gripping, satiating tonal build-ups. “I’m a righteous man,” the vocals reveal at one point, embracing a hard-rock menacing throughout the upcoming final minute. A song from the next LP closes out the EP; “The Birth” delights in its use of spacey synths, swelling guitar work, and wonderfully creepy vocal “we are on our knees,” vulnerabilities. The Fallacy is an immersive, textured rock success throughout from The Kartetch.
