by Dan Goldin (@post_trash_)
Ever since we first heard about the formation of Providence’s Mulva, we’ve been eager to hear exactly what Christina Puerto (Kal Marks, Bethlehem Steel) has been cooking up. The band played a handful of shows last year around the east coast, setting up the framework for the songs that would eventually become their debut EP, an re-introduction to Puerto’s songwriting. Pulling together a band of frequent collaborators and likeminded musicians, Puerto is joined by Carl Shane (Kal Marks), Adam Berkowitz (Ex-Breathers), and Patrick Ronayne (Bethlehem Steel, Baglady), creating an instant chemistry amid the band’s downward sludge. With their Seer EP due out on January 20th, the band will celebrate the release with a show the next night, January 21st, at O’Brien’s Pub in Allston together with RONG, Big Mess, and Bella Steele. Before that however, we’re thrilled to share the band’s debut single, “Shouldn’t Fear The Seer,” a colossally heavy first listen.
Mulva’s sound is undeniably heavy, but beyond that, the band are able to skirt around most pre-determined genre markers, creating music that feels intuitive more anything else. “Shouldn’t Fear The Seer” comes crashing out the gate with a riff that feels legitimately evil, pouring down like black rain over the chopped up rhythmic force. The band all play into the dirge with aplomb, Puerto and Shane’s guitars trail like torrential clouds, Ronayne’s bass and Berkowitz’s drums feel like a true backbone, coloring the song at times, but holding together the destruction at times. As metal as the intro may sound however, Puerto wrangles the song into something brilliantly melodic in the verses, her voice a beacon shining through the otherwise creeping gloom. It’s a song that looks to the future with a sense of optimism in spite of impenetrable darkness.