by Patrick Pilch (@pratprilch)
Just months after their superb May-slated full-length Tower of Ten Thousand Miles, Doffing maintain momentum on Memory Vault, a dense EP that serves as an excellent inter-album sampler for the Montreal quartet. On their latest, the band sieves their sinewy post-hardcore through three equally intense songs. As the manic fervor of “F.O.A.M.” sonically fractured Tower’s tracklisting, the songs on Memory Vault establish and sustain a similar ferocity, naturally developing through the band’s gripping arrangements and melodic instinct. Each track showcases Doffing’s ability to traverse through musical ebb and flow, as the group melds explosive elements of tasteful screamo into their trademark indie-goth rock. The EP’s sonically grating developments preface its most fantastic moments of clarity, allowing a muddled palette of buildup to bleed into urgent outros like the final fifty pop-bent seconds of “Tempest’s Apprentice” or the abbreviated menace of “Skeletal Mendicant.”
On their heaviest release yet, Doffing continue to carve out an incredibly niche atmosphere around their music, themes and artwork. Melodically gothic gestures enhance each track’s vivid aesthetic, producing a feeling that will certainly hit close to home for some listeners. On the first half of “Tempest’s Apprentice,” eerie and almost religious harmonies about the “chosen warrior of the storm god” tangle with sputtering bass with acoustic finger picks in anticipation of the track’s reckless chorus. It’s a wonderfully composed opener that hints at the rest of the Memory Vault’s contents, an EP providing a stellar post album offering from one of Montreal’s most exciting new acts.
Listen to Memory Vault below and be sure to catch Doffing on their upcoming tour:
Tour Dates:
8/16 - Toronto, ON @ FAITH / VOID
8/17 - Kingston, ON @ 12CAT Arts Collective
8/18 - Montreal, QC @ La Plante
8/21 - Halifax, NS @ Radstorm
8/25 - St. John's, NL @ The Republic for Out of Earshot Festival