Onwards to the Wall

Personnel: Oliver Ackermann (vocals, guitar); Dion Lunadon (vocals, bass guitar).
Audio Mixer: A Place to Bury Strangers.
The Onwards to the Wall EP arrived nearly three years after the album Exploding Head, which presented a lusher and more accessible take on A Place to Bury Strangers' visceral take on shoegaze than anything they'd done before. These five songs show that the band remains unafraid of changing and growing, even if that means going back to basics. Onwards to the Wall balances the lessons the band learned on Exploding Head regarding hooks, melody, and structure with the raw attack that made their earlier work so thrilling. Everything here is sleeker and sparer, though these songs are still soaked in reverb that suggests smoky and dangerous nights. From "I Lost You" onward, it's clear that A Place to Bury Strangers are putting the focus on driving rhythms, so much so that the band has two drummers (including Baroness' Allen Blickle). These changes actually end up highlighting the things that remain the same in the band's sound -- namely, the way A Place to Bury Strangers keep raw-edged emotions barely in check with deadpan vocals, but give those feelings a voice in pummeling rhythms and plangent guitars. All of these qualities are in effect on "Onward to the Wall" itself, which features Moon's Alanna Nuala on a duet about escaping burned-out love at breakneck speed. In its own way, Onwards to the Wall is just as exciting as Exploding Head was, managing to sum up the band's sound and move forward at the same time. ~ Heather Phares