Midnight Will
A Mass
Brace Yourself
WInter Veil
A Dirge
Midnight Will (Live At Hau Ruck! Festival 03:03:02)

With third album "Lucifer" released in 2003 and new album "Sonnenheim"’ on the imminent horizon, a re-release of an earlier limited 10” EP is a perfect stop-gap measure. For those unaware, OTWATM are a fantastic neo-folk group from Denmark, and while they follow a sound most characteristic of late 90’s Death in June, they certainly have enough of their own style and character to stand alone.

Sullen opener ‘Midnight Will’ is a stunning track, built on a cyclic strummed acoustic guitar melody, sparse synth backing and reverb drenched spoken/ sung vocals - subdued acoustic melancholia at its finest. Another absolute standout is ‘A Dirge’, following a similar trademark format of slow strummed acoustic guitar lead, clean guitar backing, synths textures & spoken lyrics (adapted from a piece of writing dating from 1598 by Sir Philip Sidney) - again, simply fantastic.

The remaining pieces veer of slightly, opting for a track of slow ritualistic percussion/ chimes, an alternate non-acoustic version of the title track & a more uptempo acoustic number ‘Winter Veil’. Likewise for good measure the MCD is complimented with a live version of the title track to complete this tasty little re-release.

RJS