Listening through the debut EP from London, Ontario’s The White Swan is akin to a spiritual experience. Wrapped up in a dreamstate surrounded by heavy guitars, stirring synths, and a robust rhythm section, Nocturnal Transmission is a far cry from the former outfit of The White Swan’s Mercedes Lander.
With The White Swan, the ex-Kittie drummer handles not only chief songwriting duties but also the sticks, the guitars, the keyboards, and the vocals with Shane Jeffers adding more guitar and Kira Longeuay on bass for this sonic journey that’s not quite Doom and not quite Metal but Heavy as all hell regardless of the genre.
“In Love And Ritual” is huge with these pounding drums echoing as synths create a glossy atmosphere and the bombastic bass tones lead into a unified force of crushing catharsis. The title track follows the heavenly Heavy and is a major shredder, almost Crowbar-like even if they were fronted by Ann Wilson. Lander’s voice is glowing, sanguine, and simply divine with equally dense yet delicate music to back it up.
“Purple” is grand and all about that Post-Rawk epicness before an impassioned yet biting cover of Tracy Bonham’s “Tell It To The Sky” closes out The White Swan’s latest foray into exquisitely executed aural ecstasy.
Nocturnal Transmission drops on September 18th through War Crime Recordings. Pre-orders live and breathe in a variety of forms now by clicking here. For more on The White Swan, follow them across the interwebs by clicking here or here.