The Way To Light - The Sun's Ascent

Writing this blog has really had it's advantages. Not only does it give me a chance to document and share music I've managed to get hold of, but it has also opened the path to new music. A perfect example is this, "The Sun's Ascent" from The Way to Light. I hadn't heard of this project until I got a message in my inbox asking me to give it a bit of a listen. Sometimes I've been contacted about stuff that I'm really not into, but this was not one of those times....

The Way to Light rises from the ashes of Botfly, although from listening to it you would never have guessed. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find many similarities between the two projects. Whereas Botfly played metallic hardcore, the guitarist Austin has crafted three acoustic tracks that I can only describe as hauntingly beautiful.

Each track progressively builds up layer upon layer of different sounds and tones, creating a truly mind-altering experience. It is really quite amazing the level of atmosphere that is set from drones and noises, but the guitar work is what has really captured me. It is so soft, yet manages to portray such a mosaic of beauty and sadness that resonates right through your mind. These, coupled with perfectly whispered vocals, produce something really quite special.

This is soon to be released by striVVe recordings as part of a special double cassette with their earlier EP, "That Place Now Forgotten". I'm sure that will be incredibly limited, so keep your eyes peeled if you like what you hear down below.

As an aside, this project is intimately linked with Roses Never Fade, who have somewhat recently released a new track. I hear there may be a new LP in the works, so be sure to get very excited for that.

Botfly - Enemies Of The World Tape

It is sad that the first release by Botfly that I acquired would probably be my last. The band formed in 2010, and very recently announced they would be splitting up. I feel Botfly were quite under-appreciated, and in the words of Jacob Abernathy "These dudes put out some really good DIY material and most people didn’t even give a shit.. Then you have bands like Touche Amore that hardly put any work in and fucking blow up beyond anything else". 

So, this tape counts as the band's third and final release. Released on Mvrder Svicide Incidents, this contains 5 previously unreleased songs. The entire EP is streaming on bandcamp (as well as the bottom of the page). 

The artwork folds out into this 4 fold piece of Abernathian art, which is a spin on AFI's "All Hallows EP". It is printed on really thick card, and has the lyrics on the reverse side.

The tape is produced on clear green, and is limited out of 100. It would have been nice to be numbered, but oh well.

I decided to get the package deal of this tape which came with a few extra treats. The first bonus was these two Botfly buttons. They'll probably never get used, but they are still cool to have.

More importantly, this package also came along with this T-shirt, printed on either black or white cotton. It was a bit weird, when it first arrived it smelled exactly like rabbit. A simple wash took care of it though.