I’ve been meaning to review this album for some time, but as usual life has conspired to get in the way. However, the best things are those for which we wait (or so the saying goes), and one listen to The Medea Project’s Sisyphus proves that this is an album that was more than worth the wait. Awash with atmosphere, this debut full length outing from the duo (comprising multi-instrumentalist Brett Minnie and Drummer / backing vocalist Pauline Silver) is a masterclass in dynamic, the pair conjuring the sort of grand, morbid epics that typified My Dying Bride’s early career, back when they were still in thrall to Celtic Frost. An album of epic riffing and subtle nuances, Sisyphus is a remarkable debut and one that deserves to bring the band to a much greater audience.
Right from the off, Sisyphus captivates with the eerie, downbeat prelude, a scene-setting piece that is awash in mysterious atmosphere and the promise of something special to come. Brett’s vocal, reminiscent of Garm, trembles with emotion amidst the sparse arrangement and it all leads nicely to the hulking, churning riff of Babylon. Nailed by the funereal percussion of Pauline Silver, Babylon is crushingly heavy, yet the melodic delivery of Brett is all the more menacing for the glacial calm he exudes. As a result, when he does break into a harder edged vocal, it almost comes as a relief; the sense of creeping dread dispelled to some extent as guitar and drums are finally allowed off the leash. Adopting a more direct approach, the aptly-titled To Know Us Is To Fear Us is a monstrous slab of primal death metal, reminiscent of early Darkthrone or Mayhem, Brett’s unearthly roar offset by Pauline’s heavily processed, Lydia Lunch howl. Quite how a two-piece could be responsible for such a gargantuan sound is something of a mystery, although credit is due to the skills of Dave “Krokitt” Lear, who mixed the album, for giving The Medea Project such clarity amidst the harrowing layers of distortion. The first half concludes with the lengthy The Ghosts Of St. Augustines, a seven-minute exercise in tightly controlled doom, which sees Brett’s cruelly distorted guitar amped up to speaker-shredding volumes. Held closely in check by Pauline’s martial beat, The Ghosts Of St Augustines is an album highlight, but when the quality of the whole is so high, it’s a close run thing indeed.
Opening up the album’s second half (and this really is a record that deserves to see life on vinyl), Gloam resets things somewhat after the relentless assault of its predecessor. A subtle, mesmerising track that underscores the varied influences that lie at the heart of the band, Gloam nods to My Dying Bride via their disturbing cover of Swans’ Failure, although it carries a potent sting in the tail for those brave enough to follow the band down its darkened path. Emerging form the feedback-strewn wreckage of what went before, Reaver catches the listener somewhat unawares, the opening notes delivered like a jolt of electricity. In contrast, the thunderous drums that open G.E.O.t.F are allowed to build on their own, Brett slowly laying off-kilter layers of guitar over Pauline’s death march before wrong-footing the listener and unveiling a hitherto unnoticed Sisters of Mercy influence. The Soundgarden-esque riff of Fear soon gives way to something less expected – a track that takes a number of twists and turns on the way to its conclusion. The album concludes with The Desert Song, a psychedelic head trip that nods to Pink Floyd at their most whacked out on acid, although Medea Project don’t sacrifice metallic might in their quest for more progressive pastures, and the end result is a captivating final track that promises great things for the future.
Sisyphus is further proof (as if any were needed) of just how much talent lies at the heart of the underground. The Medea Project touch on numerous reference points, but their skill is to synthesis those elements into something that is uniquely theirs. Engaging, enthralling and an album which reveals more on every subsequent listen, it is a quite remarkable debut from a very special band. 9
