Christian Schaefer
Featured this album on the fifteenth issue of RULE of THREE (bit.ly/RULEofTHREEbc). Oceans is a wonderful, epic and beautiful slice of moody and nostalgic post-punk with hints of newwave and indiegoth. The rich baritone vocals are offset perfectly with a driving synth bass line, heavily chorused guitars and reverb-soaked drums. The melodies are dark and strong and have enough hooks to keep you caught for a very long time, if not forever.
Favorite track: Oceans.
The four creative souls in RA get their energy out of despair, loss, frustration and restlessness. They started out as a psychedelic rock quintet but after just one EP they sadly lost one of their members. The loss and their life in Malmö are shown in the, recently released mini documentary - RA - Malmö Mentality. The band didn’t dissolve, instead they canalized their friendship into what should become their debut album - Scandinavia. The album is a whirlwind of punk, feedback, haunting vocals, melodic guitar riffs and pounding bass. The album took the band out on the road and it gained a lot of attention around the world, placing them in some kind of Nordic Noir Post-punk file, together with iceage, Holograms, Lust For Youth etc. Other comparisons were made to Deafheaven, Bauhaus, and A Place to Bury Strangers, now that is gone.
Here we have the first release since the album, and the band has moved forward. This is a more electronic sound landscape, it is gloomy, it is staring, slower, melodic, almost romantic but equally intense. We find more members than the drummer and vocalist Simon, behind the microphone, more voices, less noise, contemplation. This is a band that never rests. All held together by producer Joakim Lindberg that has produced everything with the band up to date.
”We left our rough punk sound and tried to explore another feeling, a more romantic feeling. We gave ourself time to think and reflect and worked more with the song structures.”
- Simon Minó - drums and vocals
RA = Simon Minó, Erik Blondell, Felix Mårtensson, Martin Nilsson
supported by 13 fans who also own “Then I Woke Up In Paradise EP”
It's uncanny just how good Actors is at emulating that Post-Punk synth sound from my younger days.
Each listen just gets better and better. I feel slightly ashamed for not having heard this album until a few short days ago. modestwriggles
Cinematic-scale goth from Reflection Black with catchy melodies, dreamy synths, punchy rhythms, and a sense of timelessness. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 21, 2023
A killer re-release of a rare solo post-punk LP from 1988 by the frontman of Taste of Decay and Garden of Pleasures. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 17, 2022
supported by 12 fans who also own “Then I Woke Up In Paradise EP”
Majestic, dark, driving, relentless darkwave from the masters of the genre. Some of their strongest material ever, and that's saying something. Featured on Mix 21 of the 14 waves podcast: 14waves.com/podcast/mix-021-ive-been-through-the-point-of-no-return/ Skull + Crossfades