A beautifully atmospheric album with late-night slowcore immersion, Possession Pact is the new album from Orchid Mantis. The Atlanta-based project of artist Thomas Howard first caught our ears in 2018 with the album kulla sunset, and has continued to craft a dreamily melodic appeal across multiple full-lengths since. The latest, Possession Pact achieves a haunting, nocturnal atmospheric entrancement — bolstered by evident ’90s slowcore inspirations. Layered guitars and subdued drums complement ghostly vocals throughout, embracing a more guitar-led sound compared to several prior releases, which more notably infused electronic elements and synths.
“Spirit Circle” opens the album with a chilly intrigue, melding lonesome guitar jangling with hypnotic percussive pit-pattering; a cinematic sound results, one with Lynchian allure. Howard’s vocals emerge tactfully, here and throughout the album; whereas his vocals were embedded more subtly on past releases, they embrace greater clarity here, even in their hushed state. While his vocal presence is enveloping, the album’s instrumental pieces also impress. “Transformer” shifts between quaint twanginess and multi-layered hints of ardency, while “Asleep On A Greyhound” invokes nighttime with sounds of cricket-chirping and illuminated, textured guitar work. The latter is also a thematic emphasis; the album was conceived as a “‘road trip” record, conveying an audible world in perpetual motion through dreams and waking life alike. The title track is another instrumental standout; delicate piano and reflective guitar pulses move with ethereal enchantment.
A dream-like state enthralls on “All the Passing Days,” another firm display of Howard’s knack for gorgeously haunting soundscapes. “All the passing days, feel the memories fade,” his vocals let out, infusing poetic introspection as an airier vocal tone takes hold into the two-minute turn. A gripping guitar-laden momentum lingers alongside. Similarly compelling, “My Epithet” also ponders the role of memory within a lovably gauzy nocturnal slowcore appeal: “Retracing steps / I think I left something there / My epithet.” Past memories are portrayed similarly to ghosts — capable of retracing and catching a glimpse, though ultimately out of substantive reach; it makes for an apt depiction within a wonderfully chilling aesthetic.
“Winding, Unwinding” is particularly memorable within the album’s “road trip” ethos capturing both waking and dreaming states. Its lyrics evoke a sense of timelessness and cyclical experience, where both the waking and dreaming worlds blend into one continuous, shifting reality. “Meet me inside the same dream,” the vocals beckon, comparing that dream-like state to a recurring place, just as real as the waking world. Emotion, memory, and presence persist even when the physical world seems to change. Possession Pact is another heady, captivating success from Orchid Mantis.
