Evi Vine ‘Sabbath’ Review: single from forthcoming album showcases a furor of dark delights, and an impressive goth pedigree.  

When you’re about to listen to a song called Sabbath for the first time, expectations are high. The title of course draws associations with the progenitors of metal Black Sabbath, but it also conjures images of religious iconography, a space for sacred devotion, ritual or rumination.

So it speaks to the power of London alt-rock songstress Evi Vine, that the track (which is also the first single off her forthcoming album Black Light White Dark) is every bit as heavy, ambitious and theatrical as its title suggests.

The song, which also features Cure bassist Simon Gallup and Fields of the Nephilim guitarist Peter Yates, is a goth juggernaut of epic proportions, featuring burrowing guitar distortion and gauzy layers of sound. The mix of guitar loops, clanging percussion and Vine’s mournful vocals are an exquisite mix for lovers of dark, dense melody and mood.

It’s a psychedelic, yet bruising track that suggests artists as disparate as Chelsea Wolfe, Portishead and Slowdive, but with a dark charm all its own.

Indeed, it’s a sonic journey, running nine minutes in length, lumbering like a restless undead spirit before its shoegazey coda, when it explodes into shards of distorted, granulated bliss.

For the uninitiated, Sabbath makes an excellent introduction to Vine and her backing band (which includes Steven Hill, Matt Tye and David ‘GB’ Smith), and the production by Dave Izumi (Ed Harcourt, Magic Numbers) is assured and heady, showing the perfect alchemy of ebb and flow for a track that offers a multitude of dynamics.

This mastery of light and shade makes for one of the most immersive songs in recent memory, and leaves one very excited to hear Vine’s full-length album Black Light White Dark (due out  February 22 on Solemn Wave Records), which you can pre-order via Amazon below:

Pre-order Evi Vine’s Black Light White Dark on Amazon: