Review: Midas Fall ‘Cold Waves Divide Us’
Six years ago, in 2018, one of my favourite bands on the whole planet released the phenomenally wonderful album Evaporate, the follow-up to one of my top albums of all time, The Menagerie Inside. The same year, I drove for two and a half hours to see the same band in Guildford as it was the nearest venue that they were performing at, and even then, I would have driven further still for a glimpse of the band performing.
At that time, I believed that it would most likely be the only time I would ever get to see them perform, as being located in Scotland, this criminally underrated band really had stretched themselves to even make it down to this point of the country, and if they were willing to be in Guildford, then I would too.
What I witnessed was an experience so heart melting and for months after, I still couldn’t believe just how much that evening had changed my outlook. Since then, leaping forward, and it’s now 2024, and that very same band have recently released one of the most incredibly heart stopping, and truly spiritually awakening albums of not only 2024, but of all time.
The band I’m talking about is Midas Fall, and that album is Cold Waves Divide Us. The core members at the helm of the band are long time collaborators Elizabeth Heaton and Rowan Burn, who started the band over fifteen years ago, and while other incredible musicians have come and gone, the emphasis has always been the collaboration of Elizabeth and Rowan coupled with their dynamic and vision.
This time around they have been joined by multi-instrumentalist Michael Hamilton, and between the three of them, what has been created is an opus so deep and embracing within, that when I close my eyes, I can feel my whole self turn to jelly. This isn’t just an experience for the ears, it is something for your very soul too.
Over the course of the forty-five minutes, there are ten spine tingling tracks, which truly define the idea of beauty in music. Elizabeth’s utterly heart stopping vocals, which range from whispers to bellows, perfectly accompany a soundtrack so painfully emotional and inspiring, that it will envelop your heart, and keep it warm forevermore.
Tracks such as Monsters and Atrophy are so expressively deep, that they bring a tear to the eye, such is the outpouring of emotion, if you are willing to give yourself to the work. In all my years of loving Midas Fall, I can say with hand on heart, that no one else catches me as emotionally as they do. There is just something so wonderfully deep and heartfelt on every track, and it is all written in such a way that it touches your very core, transforming sound into emotion.
each and every track on this album is utterly enthralling and solidifies further just what a treasure Midas Fall are…
The title track, Cold Waves Divide Us, along with I Am Wrong offset the softer moments with soaring highs, which are so dynamically intense, and full of crushing guitar crescendos, that it is almost impossible to put into context how they leave you feeling, beyond having an overwhelming out of body experience.
The thing is, each note, each moment, is so perfectly encapsulated in passion, that you can’t help but fall in love with both this album, and the band too. And that’s the beauty of Midas Fall in a nutshell, Cold Waves Divide Us is just the latest in a long line of spiritually awakening releases, and if you have gotten to this point and not ever invested your time in the band, you really have missed out as watching such a band evolve feels like our secret to those of us who worship them,
With each new release, they push their whole being further and further, never resting on their laurels and feeling like a love story, filled with heartache, overwhelming angst and euphoric joy. The biggest travesty is just how overlooked they have been. I could spend forever more championing just how incredible I think Midas Fall are, but I would rather hope that you, as a reader of this review, would go out, and experience all of this for yourself.
To point you at a couple of instant high points, give Mute, the album closer, and Point Of Diminishing Return a listen, to see the parallels within the band’s sound, the latter is an instrumental roller coaster, and the former finishes the album to devastating effect. That being said, each and every track on this album is utterly enthralling and solidifies further just what a treasure Midas Fall are.
Yes, I am a little biased, I have every single release the band have ever made, and now having seen them perform live three times, twice at the awesome Portals Festivals in the last few years, I will champion them for all to see, but with good reason, and that is because I love them so much.
They deserve more admiration, more exposure, and far more acknowledgement for everything they are, and if I can be some small part of that happening, I will make it a priority because ultimately, they’ve earned it.
Label: Monotreme Records
Band Links: Official | Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Twitter | Instagram
Scribed by: Lee Beamish
