CaveofswordS – ‘Sigils’ (album stream) (Premiere)

Enigmatic lyrics, reverb-drenched vocals, and an overall cryptic mood make up the newest album by the St. Louis rock group CaveofswordS, Sigils. (On their website, CaveofswordS is described as “dubwave”.) The band latticeworks layers of psychedelic haze and synth-led soundscapes into a brooding collage that emits intrigue all throughout these ten tunes.

The band says this to PopMatters about the making of the album, “When we talked about what Sigils was to be at the start of recording, we really wanted it to reflect the current state of media overload and saturation. In the past, information was pretty well kept on a leash and doled out by those in control only when caught out on something, now it seems they realize it’s just as easy to hide their machinations in a torrent of contradicting and confusing information. The sigils are ubiquitous emblems and logos placed everywhere rendering them nearly invisible. When one becomes conscious of the sigils again, one can connect them and thus trace the lines of power and ownership that dominate our existence.

“Our approach to recording Sigils was that we wanted each song to be it’s own complete world while also being tied together by using only a set number of instruments across the whole record. Basically using traditional instruments but then resampling ourselves and running the samples through a ton of pedals and effects. We wanted to do it all ourselves so we built a vocal booth in our house and turned our bedroom into a studio. That’s not to say we didn’t have help though. We had access to a gang of amazing engineers and musicians who patiently listened to the record as it was in progress, giving invaluable advice and a fresh set of ears.”

Sigils is out on 10 March via Boxing Clever.