The latest treasure to rise from Steel-City comes in the form of Air Drawn Dagger, along with their debut album A Guide for Apparitions.
Better late than never is always the correct term when you hear an album like this. Air Drawn Dagger released this 12-track multi-genre masterpiece on April 4. Although “masterpiece” could be an over-exaggerating, it has been a while since an album that’s taken me on such an emotional journey. A DIY sound, travelling between pop punk, metal, goth and even some folky textures, particularly in the vocals.
It’s hard to highlight specific tracks that are in my favour, with such a variety of energies. It immediately caught my attention with the seamless transition between Hymn of the Hag and Sanctifound. I assumed it’d set the scene quite well, introducing the themes and sounds of A Guide for Apparitions, but I was immediately proven wrong with the lighter, pop-punk sound of Sweatin’. Great! Keep me on my toes.
Although, towards the end is where the album began to really build up, and create a big, atmospheric rock-fusion album. From MotherMaidenCrone to Apparitions, each track gives more and more power. It was so hard to not love it! There was drama, there was emotion, there was a very subtle (but effective) key change.
You’d think, then, that it’s disappointing that the final track, Bellyaches, returns to pop punk. I’d understand if someone would feel let down, or like the mood had gone – but I still really enjoyed it. The tone of the instruments sounded like music at the end of the movie. It had a very happy-go-lucky melody that was accompanied by sad lyrics. Though, with many changes of tempo and tone, I feel like the Bellyaches wraps up A Guide for Apparitions perfectly.
The album is an experience that you can have now, and I would love to hear live at some point. They do have some live shows set for June and July, if you enjoyed it as much as I did. It’s set the bar high for Air Drawn Dagger, but I look forward to seeing what could come next!
