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FERMATA – Ever Colder
(Self-Release 2021)
Fermata is doing two shows in Madison: September 25 at the Bos Meadery on the patio with Matt DeBlass and
Sunday, September 26 at the Burr Oak.
The last time Local Sounds reported on Fermata it was 2009. After twelve years the band has reunited, playing its first gig in Baltimore on September 2nd.
Fermata occupies an exclusory musical space. Their sound could best be described as Chamber Folk with Gothic overtones. Acoustic instruments have always been at the core of their sound. This time around Eli August (Jon Koschoreck – guitars, keys and vocals) is joined by Cody Davis who returns on upright and electric bass. Also back from the old lineup is vocalist Lisa Mazza Hamilton. Thillman Benham joins the group on cellos.
The group is spread out: Mazza Hamilton is in Milwaukee, Davis is in Madison and Thillman is in Baltimore. August, who writes the songs, is now living in southern Pennsylvania after about ten years in Baltimore. Although Fermata was inactive, August was not. He fronted Eli August and the Abandoned Buildings which had eleven members at its height. Between the collective and solo work seven albums and several singles have been released. Fermata has Patreon followers and there are more songs available with membership. Though the band is recording, the performances are sporadic given the distance and that bastard COVID.
The band’s vibe is earthy with forlorn lyrics that leave room for interpretation; skirting the darkness without shutting out the light entirely. The bulk of the material on Ever Colder is a familiar blueprint for Fermata, acoustic guitar, lots of gravitas by way of keys and strings and very little percussion. Mazza Hamilton takes most of the vocals with August harmonizing or taking the occasional lead. Some of the songs are conversational lyrically. “Little One” has Mazza Hamilton and August trading two-line vocal stanzas, each playing the part of the parent addressing a child.
The overall effect of the majority of the album is soothing and gentle, a bit repetitive in the individual songs too, whether it’s recurrent motifs and chord progressions or lyrical elements. Dramatic builds are employed but little in the way of musical departures or unexpected movements. A cool vibe gets established and maintains throughout. Frequent use of words like dark, wind, dirt, bones, stars, nothing add to the mood. “Temptress” suggests a conscious return from the grave; “And So We Dance Again” carries that through and could be a reunion with a lost love from another life. “Silhouettes” is a beautiful track and more of a straight-up love song.
“Self-Inflicted Wounds” is another story altogether. Easily the best song on the album it comes to life with drums and heavily-distorted guitar. Mazza Hamilton’s voice rises to another level of power as she sings “Hold on / ‘Cause it gets darker from here.. / It gets harder from here.” This is topical stuff that takes on the pandemic with gothic poetry. “No place to gather / Except in our dreams / There’s a failure of faith in humanity / And we’ve made our own small hells / In these rooms that have become our cells.” The imagery of creaking stairs and hallways cold and grim are quite impactful. There are more recent songs on Fermata’s Bandcamp page that didn’t make the album. One of these, “Living Unafraid,” has similar energy so perhaps they can seize on what appears to be an opportunity. Fermata could make a really great album if songs like these were juxtaposed with their softer side.
But there is no arguing with a song like “In Honor of Z,” sung entirely by August. A beautiful and concise farewell to an old friend delivered with emotive sincerity and a really good album closer. Ever Colder is a welcome return for Fermata. It will be interesting to see where they take things from here.
