Rosetta – The Anaesthete

August 8, 2013 • self-released

I'm starting to have mixed feelings about Rosetta as a band. Back in 2006 or so when I first heard The Galilean Satellites, they became an instant favorite, and I've highly enjoyed everything they've released since. And yes, I have found myself enjoying The Anaesthete. But at the same time, I feel a bit let down by it. It's still good, though, and worth a listen for sludge fans.

For anyone who hasn't heard them, Rosetta's sound is near the peak of the sludge metal and post-rock fusion style. Staples of their sound include layered, delay-rich clean guitar contrasted with heavy crunching power riffs, complex and intricate drumming with some interesting time signatures, and a thick reverb-drenched atmosphere. While they've stuck with that for ten years now, like A Determinism of Morality they've been slowly trending towards some shorter songs with quicker tempos which suits them well. The band finally seems to be exploring minor-key tracks a bit more as well, with songs like the dissonant and heavy "Oku / The Secrets".

But on The Anaesthete, the band's writing skills don't seem as sharp as they used to be and I feel like they're just treading a lot of old ground. Unlike a lot of their old material, the songs here don't have a lot in the way of memorable lines or melodies the way The Galilean Satellites; instead, many of them are just a barrage of endless guitar and drum noodling until they reach a generic power-chord climax: rinse and repeat. Of course the formula worked back in 2005, but by now it hardly seems interesting, especially when it feels very structureless and hard-to-follow as well. There are a few exceptions, like the awesome riff that closes "In & Yo / Dualities of the Way" or the practically-hardcore "Myo / The Miraculous" (they can still slam a heavy section with the best of them), but moments like that aren't as frequent as they should be.

Their performance skills, on the other hand, are just as good as ever, even when things get a little messy. The drumming is easily one of the best parts, technically-speaking; he is always doing something cool. (I do wish, though, that the vocals were a bit more interesting than one clean guest spot per album. Not to say Armine is bad; he just can only do one sound.)

I can see how it'd be hard to top an instant-classic like The Galilean Satellites and they've definitely tried (Wake/Lift was absolutely a success in my mind), but I don't see much of a future for them if they continue to stagnate like this. I know this review probably sounds really harsh, probably unfairly so—for sludge fans this album is definitely worth listening to, and it's got plenty of good moments in it. I've already heard plenty of people say good things about it, so judge for yourself. Just know that it's almost certainly not going to stand up close to their best.

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