Album Review: Rosetta Stone - “Cryptology”

 

Rosetta Stone were one of those bands cursed by making their breakthrough just as the scene they were attached to was on the way out. Had they broken out in 1986-87 as the Sisters of Mercy, the Mission and the Cult were all entering their commercial heyday then there's nothing to suggest that their blend of spidery guitars, gloomy vocals and sparse vocals wouldn't have taken them to chart success. As it was though, their debut album came out in 1991 a couple of years or so after the scene had started to go into decline and with the shock of their first album under-performing commercially, they took a diversion into heavier industrial waters and that was  pretty much the end of that.

Recent years though have seen frontman Porl King resurrect Rosetta Stone as a one man operation with Cryptology being their second release since becoming active again. Dare I say it's probably their best to date as well, sounding like First, Last And Always era Sisters of Mercy, all spooky atmospherics, icy guitars and King's Eldritch-style deadpan drawl over the top. While its predecessor Seems Like Forever showed promise but came across as a bit disjointed in places, Cryptology is a vast improvement with the songs feeling as if they're holding together as a unit a lot better and, for all the foreboding, plenty of good hooks to get their teeth into you and invite repeated listening - see Valiant Try and In Black for proof. I Put It To You with its glacial piano and the driving closer Always Always are other highlights.

What with this and the recent good album from Black Angel, it appears that there may be the stirrings of an '80s goth revival going on at the moment and, hey, I'm not complaining, if it shows a few youngsters that this sort of movement doesn't start and end with the hammy overblown half-baked likes of HIM and My Chemical Toilet then all power to 'em. You can stream or download Cryptology from the Rosetta Stone Bandcamp site if you're curious to find out more.

NITE SONGS RATING: 🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌔🌑🌑 (8/10)

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