The first time the latest from Junius hit my earholes I was in the air over Baltimore en route to Florida for a fun filled week of Mickey Mouse and NASCAR. Inevitably sleep hit and like a fever dream the dense sounds of Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light drifted in and out of my head, weaving a web of post-rock intricacies that demanded repeated listens for the remainder of the trip away from MA.
But you don’t need a trip away as an excuse to listen to the latest from Junius. Oh no! As of March 3rd you can just log onto your favorite device and purchase your very own copy and let Joseph E. Martinez’s words and music envelope you in a lush soundscape.
Constants main man Will Benoit, who recorded, mixed, and mastered the opus evoked something out of the band (Or let’s say Martinez who recorded and performed all of ERAL) that hadn’t been captured properly until now. While it’s the culmination of the trilogy of album’s started with 2009’s The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist, it’s also the encapsulation of everything that has made Junius stand out up until now wrapped in a concentrated package of sonic goodness.
From the most grandiose of of all openers (The raging sonic onslaught of “March of the Samsara”) through to the Dead Can Dance-like “Masquerade in Veils” or the visceral urgency of “A Mass for Metaphysicians” (A song deftones wish they would’ve written), Junius manage to do the inevitable in today’s society: hold your attention.
Then there’s the closing dirge of “Black Sarcophagus” which hearkens back to epic Isis closers like “Grinning Mouths” or “Garden Of Light”. And while mentioning “post-rock” and “Boston” in the same sentence will inevitably bring up that legendary band, Junius still hold their own in the local and national music scene. However, if a torch was to be passed, ERAL would be the album when that happened.
Eternal Rituals for the Accretion of Light is out on March 3rd through Prosthetic Records. You can pre-order your copy here and then head here to find out where you can catch them live on their upcoming headlining run.