Band:	Rolo Tomassi
Album:	Where Myth Becomes Memory
Style:	Math metal, Experimental rock
Release date:	February 04, 2022
A review by:	musclassia

01. Almost Always
02. Cloaked
03. Mutual Ruin
04. Labyrinthine
05. Closer
06. Drip
07. Prescience
08. Stumbling
09. To Resist Forgetting
10. The End Of Eternity

What’s the hardest part of releasing a masterpiece? Following it up.

I’ve already dedicated over 1000 words to Rolo Tomassi’s previous album, so I’ll avoid discussing it too much, but Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It was a real ‘perfect storm’ album. Rolo Tomassi took big jumps in terms of influences and styles they incorporated into the album compared with previous records, and somehow every single idea landed pretty much perfectly; the record has a staggeringly perfect balance between aggression, emotion and complexity, with the end result of an album that legitimately deserves consideration in ‘album of the decade’ discussions. This has made setting expectations for its follow-up, Where Myth Becomes Memory, quite difficult; I couldn’t really envisage a way in which it could live up to Time Will Die, and as such I felt an anticipation of disappointment. As it turns out, Where Myth Becomes Memory isn’t quite at the level of its predecessor (at least for me), but it’s still a damn good album.

For a record that was regularly chaotic and intense, Time Will Die opened deceptively with a serene ambient track; Where Myth Becomes Memory follows its cue in starting off on a lighter note, but takes a different approach in capturing this vibe. Fuzzy tremolo creates a sense of static while Eva Korman dreamily croons, following which “Almost Always” gradually evolves into a euphoric post-rock anthem. Where Myth Becomes Memory forms what Rolo Tomassi claim is an accidental trilogy, and just as the first instalment Grievances was the darkest of the trio, Where Myth Becomes Memory is arguably the lightest. Beyond the heavenly aura of “Almost Always”, there’s the bouncy electronics and mellowness of the climax of “Cloaked”, moments of upbeat post-hardcore energy in “To Resist Forgetting”, and the notable departure “Closer”.

While the band have all-soft songs in their back catalogue (“Opalescent”, “Aftermath”), “Closer” arguably goes closer than any of those towards a ‘mainstream’ indie vibe, with Korman duetting with her brother James Spence while Spence takes centre stage instrumentally; “Closer” approaches piano ballad territory, but still feels like Rolo Tomassi thanks to the earnestness of the two vocalists, as well as the drumwork. I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about this song (although repeat listens are winning me over), but I appreciate it as the next step in Rolo Tomassi showing how little they are limited by musical boundaries. I also like the return of Spence to a more leading vocal role on this song, although my favourite instance of this is his clean hook during the climax of “To Resist Forgetting”, which contrasts excellently with Korman’s screams.

Still, for all this talk of lightness and softness, this is Rolo Tomassi we’re talking about, and whilst mathcore is less and less of a dominant factor with each passing record, they can still hit hard, and in ways we’ve not heard from them before. Certainly, I don’t think I can remember them representing the other side of the djent/math Metal Storm Awards category quite like they do with the punchy djent opening to “Cloaked”, a track that deftly trades off moments of clean serenity with contorted, beefy riffs. Additionally, considering everything I've said of this being the lightest album from Rolo Tomassi, there’s a sinister bleakness to “Mutual Ruin”, the simple repeating piano chord building tension while the guitars lurk menacingly in the background before a release of punky aggression. Further darkness and heaviness can be heard in the viscerally malicious guitar tone on “Labyrinthine” and the frantic drum opening of “Drip”.

Now, this review sounds very positive thus far, so when I intimated earlier that this is a step down from the last record, why is that? Let me be clear: I’m not going to list any weaknesses of Where Myth Becomes Memory. It’s purely a case of impossible expectations for me; Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It was filled, from front to back, with virtually flawless songs that combined an excellent base with stellar standouts moments. The only thing I can really hold against this album is that I don’t like the songs quite as much, and there aren’t as many perfect peaks, but that should be in no way interpreted as a negative. The climaxes and peaks of the songs on Where Myth Becomes Memory are still excellent, whether it’s the dream pop bliss merged with rampaging drums of “Cloaked”, hooky keyboard line that lightens up “Drip” or the aforementioned sibling duet in the final moments of “To Resist Forgetting”.

Where Myth Becomes Memory also deserves plaudits for versatility in structure; the vicious first half of “Mutual Ruin” leaves the stage set for an emphatic climax, but instead the band opt for restraint, with Korman sullenly singing over a melancholic piano segment. “Drip” and “Labyrinthine” do have relatively soaring moments, but instead of leaving them for the grand finale of the songs, Rolo Tomassi play around with them within the songs, embedding the peaks within the valleys of aggression. Rounding off all of these positives, we come to my favourite track.

It’s curious that my top pick on both this album and the last one is the seventh song on the track list, but they stand out for completely different reasons. Whilst “A Flood Of Light” is an orgasmic explosion of emotion, radiating pure passion in music form, “Prescience” builds upon a fast, aggressive first half to deliver a visceral gut punch of a conclusion; creepy, sinister guitar crawls along before the song ultimately explodes in a doomy onslaught of pained screams, with the final refrain of “let me in” practically demanding that you scream it out. One lesson Rolo Tomassi has learned from their last record is to let a moment like this breathe; instead of following it up straightaway with another frenetic song like they did with “A Flood Of Light”, they instead opt for a brief melancholic piano interlude in the form of “Stumbling”.

The steps forward Rolo Tomassi have taken as a band during their career thus far are amazing; the rough-around-the-edges frantic mathcore from the early records has been replaced by an unrestricted, genre-hopping whirlwind of fury and euphoria. This latest trio of albums represent an incredible evolution of their sound, and whilst I’m not sure this record will be quite as special an album for myself as Time Will Die... was, it serves as further confirmation that Rolo Tomassi are one of the most exciting and creative bands in heavy music at this point in time.