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Blog Categories Review STAHV - Simple Mercies - Reviewed By 195metalcds!

STAHV - Simple Mercies - Reviewed By 195metalcds! Tuesday May 16 2023, 7:32 PM

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STAHV - Simple Mercies - Reviewed By 195metalcds ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.195metalcds.com/2023/03/08/stahv-simple-mercies-2023/

In 2017, Seattle-based artist STAHV (Solomon Arye Rosenschein) emerged as a shape-shifting one-person instrumental act. KEXP FM radio described STAHV as combining “elements of heavy psych-rock, doom metal, post-rock, noise-rock, and more.” That sound continues to evolve with Simple Mercies (2023), a collection of vocal-driven goth rock tracks drawing on Rosenschein’s love of ’80s aesthetics, synth-pop, and new wave.

And what a beautiful album! Take the best parts of Fields of the Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, mix them in a metamodernist world and out comes STAHV’s latest album, Simple Mercies (2023).

“The emotional core of these songs is unlike anything else I’ve ever done,” Rosenschein explains. “They deal with mortality, isolation, and other existential issues. It’s music that needs the human voice to connect.”

Simple Mercies finds STAHV at its most urgent—with guitar and baritone vocal hooks galore plus a new rhythmic thrust. Channelling the gritty melodrama of Fields of the Nephilim, reverb-soaked churn of M83, and epic scope of Echo and the Bunnymen, songs like “Cold Case” (track 1) and “Snake Key” (track 5) twist and turn, combining focused arrangements with lush soundscapes.

Conclusion
I love albums like this that give me no clues from the cover or the album title as to what I am about to experience and then they blow me away with their brilliance.

I found the first four tracks of this six track album to be the most immediate, poppy, accessible and attention-grabbing, the final couple of tracks taking a slower, more doomgaze path. But woah! What an album. Love it!

Review score: 90% 195metalcds

Release Date: Feb. 3rd, 2023

FFO: Fields of the Nephilim, The Cult, Echo and the Bunnymen

Location: Seattle WA

Short Bio: In 2017, Seattle-based artist STAHV (Solomon Arye Rosenschein) emerged as a shape-shifting one-person instrumental act. KEXP described STAHV as combining "elements of heavy psych-rock, doom metal, post-rock, noise-rock, and more." That sound continues to evolve with Simple Mercies, a collection of vocal-driven goth rock bangers drawing on Rosenschein's love of '80s aesthetics, synth-pop, and new wave.

Simple Mercies finds STAHV at its most urgent—with guitar and baritone vocal hooks galore plus a new rhythmic thrust. Channeling the gritty melodrama of Fields of the Nephilim, reverb-soaked churn of M83, and epic scope of Echo and the Bunnymen, songs like "Cold Case" and "Snake Key" twist and turn, combining focused arrangements with lush soundscapes.

When STAHV returned to performance in 2022, it was to support TUNIC, Vision Video, ACTORS, TRAITRS, and Jay Aston's Gene Loves Jezebel. Employing vocals for the first time live gave the set a jolt of inspiration, convincing Rosenschein it was time to release originals in this vein. "Seeing audiences react to STAHV with singing told me it was time to switch course," Rosenschein says. "I was ready to stop pulling punches and draw on all aspects of what I've done throughout my life in music—from pop to metal and more esoteric fare."

Simple Mercies makes good use of these chops but serves a different goal. "The emotional core of these songs is unlike anything else I've ever done," Rosenschein explains. "They deal with mortality, isolation, and other existential issues. It's music that needs the human voice to connect."

Check out the video!