EP Review: Box – Born To Crawl (Miserable Pyre)

Box invites listeners into a wintery dreamscape with their new EP, ‘Born to Crawl’. Scheduled for release on December 24th via Miserable Pyre, this collection reflects the artistic depth and genre-defying ambition of multi-instrumentalist Andrew Stromstad (also of I Am the Intimidator, Poison Idea, Atriarch).

There are many words that can sum up the listening experience of this EP, and some may be more personal than others, but one that will be prevalent in everyone’s head is the word – haunting. This is an EP that encapsulates what it is to hear something so poignant and powerful, and by keeping things instrumentally simple, it allows the emotion of the vocals to really come through.

This is so evident on the opening title track, where you can feel the pain and sorrow behind the vocals directly in your soul. Complimented by a soft and melancholic melodic instrumental section. By contrast, the following Exposed can be called a little bit weird and will certainly surprise a few people with its emphatic and elaborate noise-infused rockiness, but in a positive way as it is so inventive. Heck, there’s a bit of a goth-rock ring to it here and there too.

The EP then hits a peak as far as surrealism goes with Ayla. Beginning with a dramatic, but stilted, sounding orchestra, before evolving into something cinematic and groovy. There’s a certain amount of accessibility to this track, thanks to some of the rhythms, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s highly experimental.

Which also sums up Taku, except here, Box pushes the creative limits even further with something more psychedelic. This, like the entire EP can be summed up as a deeply psychological experience. One that everyone should have.

Box – Born to Crawl Track Listing:

1. Born To Crawl
2. Exposed
3. Ayla
4. Taku

Links

Bandcamp | Instagram