ninehertz

Nottingham's enigmatic Dystopian Future Movies don't just 'return with a new album'. Each record is a statement of reflection, of intent; a work of musical and cultural significance told with incredibly vocal musicianship - a literal and personal record of callous injustice in the rich yet troubled historical tapestry of bandleader Caroline Cawley's native Ireland.

The musicians continue to develop their own individual voices, with which they adeptly communicate the details and the atmosphere of the affecting tale. Literally speaking, Cawley's voice is put to excellent timbral use in She from Up the Drombán Hill, as she uses an awareness of the dramatic contrast between her warm Irish accent and cold, intense story-telling to render us powerless to the chilling details.

The group expertly make use of space, feedback, reverb and restraint to conjure an atmosphere of upsettingly familiar dread, whilst also introducing some different colours into their palette. The Walls of Filth and Toil is driven by angular vocal lines reminiscent of Maynard Keenan or Simon Neil at their more focused and immediate; the off-kilter patterns dangle us on the edge of a precipice and, as the distorted guitars roar in, it's like being shocked awake from a falling dream.

Meanwhile, License of Their Lies and No Matter feel intrinsically linked by their sense of suspended and untoward tightness, like a sudden restriction of breath, quickly but concerningly regained a moment later as the bass phrasing spills over the bar lines. Bill Fisher's ever-inspiring drums on the latter bounce with a polyrhythmic elasticity, whilst his funereal snare work on the titular War of the Ether evokes a sorrowful sense of loss.

With their third album, Dystopian Future Movies have carved a haunting new zenith; a truly disquieting story told with austere musical voicing and an innate sense of drama, melancholy and respect. Steeped in Gaelic colour yet brimming with the visceral, metallic might of the Midlands, War of the Ether will lure you in only to leave you to perish in the frost.