Closure in Moscow - ThePenance and the Patience

Thu 27th Mar, 2008 in Music Reviews

When they decided to record their new 6-track album-ette, The Penance and the Patience, Closure in Moscow sold their own cars to front the money to fly out U.S. producer and engineer Kris Crummett. Bold move.

“We went in to make a record with soul, something more than just a lifeless piece of plastic. We want to connect with people, to make you dance, cry, sing and shout with us,” said guitarist Manny Zennelli.

The 5-piece band from Melbourne define their music as avant-garde/pop/progressive, which I find a bit paradoxical. Closure in Moscow are avant-garde the way that other up-and-coming alternative rock bands are avant-garde, which makes it pretty un-avant-garde altogether. They are pop in the sense that they sound like Coheed and Cambria, and Coheed and Cambria are popular. I suppose you could also say that Coheed and Cambria are avant-garde, but by becoming popular, and influencing other bands, their “unorthodox” style is now pretty run-of-the mill.

My head hurts… moving on. In the end, The Penance and the Patience is a cathartic blend of metal, emo, and alternative rock. It is overwhelmingly clear that the band put everything into this album, and considering how young they are (average age 21) and how short a time they’ve been playing together (18 months), it’s a pretty impressive debut.

Closure in Moscow are confident in their production, or perhaps just wise in having Kris Crummett produce for them. The songs are straight-forward and emotive, rising and falling with clear, purposeful direction.

The band goes out on some pretty cool experimental limbs on Breathing Underwater, and the radio-ready (if it wasn’t six minutes long) Jewels for Eyes offers up some noteworthy synth mixes. As the title suggests, the album also touches on a religious, macabre theme (think My Chemical Romance’s Helena).

The instrumentation on We Want Guarantees, Not Hunger Pains sounds like a crusade battle. Appropriate, considering it deals with vocalist Chris De Cinque’s struggle with organised religion. His biting lyrics are sharp and crystal clear, but descriptions of writhing skin, trinket-lined tombs, and resonating cries stray a little too close to the lyrical deep end. No one likes a band that tries too hard to be dark.

Jam-packed with an emo-esque blend of wailing vocals, heavy guitars, and high doses of drum fills, The Penance and the Patience is also filled with moments of calm and clarity. Everyone shuts up for a minute on Ofelia…Ofelia, and the spacious piano-vocal track is a refreshing break from the album’s otherwise full-speed-ahead thrash. Dulcinea also opens up with some interesting guitar dynamics, and heavily echoed vocals.

The Penance in the Patience is just one step on a long path for Closure in Moscow, who claim they’re “in it for the long-haul.” Entering the music industry is a tough balancing act, but these guys seem to have pretty solid footing.