The Phantom Eye Premiere “Meaningless” Video From Chromesthesia EP
New York City’s The Phantom Eye self-released their debut EP, Chromesthesia, in July. The sans-bass three-piece blend progressive, near-post-metallic impulses with a kind of weighted-gaze spaciousness, drawing from the the likes of YOB or The Ocean on “Urgency Calling” or the catchy “Polluted Heart,” but there’s also a precision to their songwriting that has little room for the self-indulgence one might associate with others of a likeminded aesthetic. To wit, “Meaningless,” which is the third video (premiering below) from the five-track/25-minute offering, is a fascinating blend of elements and immediately distinguished in sound by the use of Rhodes piano as a complement to the guitar where a four-string might otherwise be. With Godmaker‘s Pete Ross on guitar and vocals, Rob McKinney on keys/vocals and Larry Hundertmark on drums, the Brooklynite trio call to mind some of the post-sludge aspects of their borough countrymen in Somnuri, without necessarily veering into the same kind of extremity.
Instead, there’s the ambience of “Ease the Pain” or the fuzzy-sounding instrumental title-track, which — just to throw another genre in the
blender — works in echo-laced bluesy psychedelic soloing, not quite touching on All Them Witches‘ territory, but perhaps aware of coming close before rumbling off in a more angular direction in its increasingly heavy second half. With the melodic vocals as a focal point, “Meaningless” gives uptempo push to the gazey midsection of “Polluted Heart” with a chugging tension, putting emphasis on post-hardcore emotionalism before a longer closing section draws down the roomy vibe. This happens, by the way, in just over four minutes, which I mention in order to point out how efficiently The Phantom Eye actually convey their material. “Urgency Calling,” which was reportedly the first song they wrote, tops five minutes and starts out slow before unveiling its back and forth volume trades, and “Ease the Pain” is longer at seven-plus, but “Polluted Heart,” “Chromesthesia” and “Meaningless” are all between four and four-and-a-half minutes long, and their feel is structurally sharp but there’s still room in the mix for mood and atmosphere.
One is sort of inherently driven to consider a debut EP formative, though without knowing what The Phantom Eye will do next, the question becomes what’s being formed. Whatever that might be, Ross, McKinney and Hundertmark have melody, songcraft and execution in their corner — not to mention the production of Justin Mantooth, which gives all the more a know-what-they’re-doing kind of feel to Chromesthesia — and a style that allows for human presence within aural largesse, their songs creating a space and them putting their ideas within it in a way that, somewhat miraculously, comes across without sounding forced. As niches go, that’s a decent one to carve in under half an hour.
The full stream of Chromesthesia is at the bottom of the post under the PR wire text in blue, and you’ll find the “Meaningless” video immediately following here.
Please enjoy:
The Phantom Eye, “Meaningless” video premiere
NYC post-metal outfit THE PHANTOM EYE is proud to announce the release of their debut EP Chromesthesia, out now via their Bandcamp page.
THE PHANTOM EYE is a Brooklyn-based trio consisting of drummer Larry Hundertmark (ex-Neck), guitarist Pete Ross (Godmaker, Endless), and keyboardist Rob McKinney (ex-Ascent of Everest) playing the Rhodes piano. They blend elements of psychedelia and shoegaze with huge drums and ruminating vocals. Guitars oscillate between spacey and heavy, the drums between mellow and hammering, while the Rhodes holds down the low end.
The band started occasionally jamming in a dirty Brooklyn basement before hitting the studio with the current lineup in the fall of 2019. Recorded and produced by Justin Mantooth (Bummer, Curren$y) at Studio G in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood, Chromesthesia originally began as an instrumental exploration of sounds, but, once the trio heard the mix, they knew they had to lay down the right vocals to take the songs to the next level. The result? A melodic wall of sound that is sure to leave the listener in an absolute state of hypnosis.
Purchase / listen: https://linktr.ee/thephantomeye
THE PHANTOM EYE is:
Pete Ross – guitars, vocals
Larry Hundertmark – drums
Rob McKinney – keyboards, vocals
