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Church of the Sea — Eva
(Bandcamp These Hands Melt no#, 2025, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-06-02

Eva Cover art

When I see the word “doomgaze,” I can recognize from context that it refers to a genre of music, but I’m neither sure of what exactly it means nor interested in finding out. Music should be judged on what it sounds like, not what PR people decide to call it. Church of the Sea is a Greek trio whose second album, Eva, is an appealing set of seven tunes that I do not find depressing at all, which is what the “doom” part of “doomgaze” would seem to imply. Vocalist Irene — the members shy away from using their surnames, though they have nothing to be ashamed of — has a beautiful and expressive voice, and in some of the sections with additional harmonies, I’m reminded of Bulgarian women’s choirs. At other times, she reminds me of Anneli Drecker of Bel Canto, who happens to be one of my favorite singers. She’s backed by Alex, who provides synths and samples (presumably including the drum programming), and Vangelis, who plays guitars, generally with a high level of distortion, though not in a way at all related to metal. His low power chords ring out to provide a fuzzy droning backdrop to the plodding rhythms and pretty melodies. The synths provide chords and occasional countermelodies, and it all fits together quite nicely. I’ve hear a lot of music in similar styles that tend to cloak the vocals in so much reverb that they become indistinct, but Church of the Sea wisely lets Irene’s voice shine clearly, with just the right touch of resonance to provide depth, but not so much as to obscure its quality. Whatever made-up word you might use to describe it, Eva is a fine album, and deserves to be heard by as many people as possible.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Church of the Sea

More info
http://churchofthesea.bandcamp.com/album/eva

 

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