Dreamy pop, atmospheric shoegaze, and lush orchestral elements adorn the gripping Until All The Flocks Are Gathered, the new album from Sterile Cuckoo. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, the project excels with a dynamic sound throughout — from intensifying rock fuzziness to reverb-laden dreaminess.
Somber strings and a vintage crackling effect send chills on the opening “Altered Beast,” which then moves with intrigue into the creaky guitar haunts within “Blatherskite.” A swell of ghostly vocals linger alongside textured guitar work and simmering orchestral backing, attaining a spacey blissfulness in the convergence of dreamy shoegaze and chamber-pop beauty. “Spring And Loss” continues the album’s strong opening momentum; its tonal development is striking — growing from a nocturnal folk rumination of spoken-word vocal submergences into a gorgeous fusing of atmospheric rock intensity and effervescent illumination.
The highlights continue throughout. “Grave Memories” invokes a spacious reminiscing in its ethereal shimmering — eschewing the project’s rock tendencies for a more serene overall embrace. The album’s title track is a fully satiating finale — ushering in hypnotic acoustic strums and lush vocals into a cathartic arrival of bursting passion. Until All The Flocks Are Gathered is a beautiful success of an album from Sterile Cuckoo.
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We discovered this release via MusoSoup.
