There’s a question that is commonly thrown at horror movie fans—“why do you like this?” For the uninitiated, the macabre subject matter, dark humor, grisly cinematographer, and penchant for gore offends every sensibility they have.
It feels like The Colossus is Coming might hit casual music fans in a similar way. The layers of harsh electronics, dissonant electric guitars, wailing saxophones, and eerie atmospheres might sound downright terrifying to someone whose tastes don’t stray too far from the middle of the road. But to those who don’t have the same reservations, it’s a rush of adrenaline not unlike that which every horror movie junkie chases.
To say it’s a concept album is a bit of an understatement—it even has an accompanying video game you can download on Steam, created by Auric Echoes mastermind Conner Rush. Four narrative interludes are woven throughout the track listing, chronicling the narrator’s attempt to escape an unsettling pursuer that can’t be shaken off. The songs largely exist in the same story, feeding on the paranoia, dread, and fatalism of the interludes. Rush’s vocal delivery is as varied as the soundscapes he and his players conjure up: at times he is as smooth as a soul singer. At others, he is monotone and stoic. In a few moments of despair, he screams and hollers like a punk rocker. The most obvious comparison is Thom Yorke, but it’s not as much a matter of similar timbres as it is a similarly manic energy.
That same mania runs through the songs themselves. The songs jump between rhythms, scales, and genres in an unpredictable way that might seem haphazard if it wasn’t executed as well. The arrangements are diverse and inventive, the ensemble often changing entirely from song to song. Some songs feature ragged guitars and pounding drum sets. Others are almost entirely electronic. Yet the record always feels cohesive. The tracks between interludes play like suites, shifting between songs and moods without stopping. What’s most impressive though is how well Rush & Co. pulls all of this off: the single “Hypochondriasis” is probably the best example, interrupting stark, industrial verses with an honest to goodness rock anthem in the chorus.
On their Bandcamp page, the (out-of-date) bio describes the project as “an independent American art rock project created by high school student Conner Rush.” Rush is in college now, but the academic sonic exploration that the project was born out of is still in full swing. For all its ambition, The Colossus is Coming has the playful dissection and re-creation that only comes from close study. Influences aren’t hidden, but they feel more like winks than ripoffs. Along with the predictable Radiohead comparisons, there are shades of Nick Cave, Swans, late-in-life Bowie, darker Beatles tunes, Nine Inch Nails, and Pharaoh Sanders, all carefully trimmed and arranged in a brilliant sonic bouquet. Hopefully, the recent cassette reissue from Friend Club Records will introduce this record to a much wider audience, because it certainly deserves it.
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