worriedaboutsatan - Even Temper

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  • Don't be fooled by the name—worriedaboutsatan aren't a confused gaggle of 20-somethings with dyed black fringes and bad tattoos. Gavin Miller and Tom Ragsdale have been toiling in luscious, eerie electronica with proggy undertones since coming together about a decade ago. They're ardent musicians, the type who have been quietly releasing record after record—mostly on their own—and spending much of their lives on the road. Even Temper is worriedaboutsatan's first full-length since their 2009 debut, Arrivals—though there have been many solo records, micro-releases and other projects in the meantime. In 2011, Miller and Ragsdale began Ghosting Season, a more floor-facing cousin to worriedaboutsatan. Ragsdale also has a project called Winter Son and an unrelated career as a DJ. TV and film scores can be found lurking in their discography. The duo's roving musical interests and cinematic credentials are what make Even Temper so deliriously metamorphic. "I'm Not Much, But I'm All I Have" is a booming, Gothic opener that melts into its own tear-jerking piano melody. "Sleep Of The Foolish" begins the first of the LP's many monastic techno pieces—this is quintessentially a hooded dance record. On the whole the pace is sluggish and weighty, but there are plenty of glimmering choral moments and bombastic dance floor peals to break things up, like the unexpected acid freakout in the otherwise stately "Church Of Red." If Even Temper has a reprieve, though, it's "A Damaged Magician," a track with little more than a disembodied voice floundering in soupy distortion for two minutes. This nicely sets the stage for the LP's standout track, "Jaki." The immediate vocal stab and pummelling, bass-heavy drum work initially echoes Andy Stott, until a tide washes over the whole thing, transforming it into a darkwave techno oddity. Even Temper even has a ghoulish pop song: "MV Joyita," featuring multi-instrumentalist, producer and sound engineer Morgan Visconti. By all accounts it probably shouldn't be here, but it is, and it works. The ambient "All Safe, All Well" adds closure to what has been a total trip, one that had you pawing through the outer-reaches of yourself for a while, and leaves you impatient to do it again.
  • Tracklist
      01. I'm Not Much, But I'm All I Have 02. Sleep Of The Foolish 03. Baychimo 04. Church Of Red 05. MV Joyita feat. Morgan Visconti 06. A Damaged Magician 07. Jaki 08. All Safe, All Well
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