Frame and Mantle // While Our Fields Lay Fallow

Frame and Mantle

While Our Fields Lie Fallow

Independent

4/5 stars

After the first track, you know this album is a journey. A band concerned more with dynamics and ambiance than wailing moments of guitar virtuosity, the debut EP of Erie's Frame and Mantle functions much like a sine wave on both the level of song and album. Each individual piece takes us through the highs and lows of life in Western Pa., expertly overlaying melodies with fluctuating rhythms. The EP itself opens in a neutral space, a winding grind that eventually culminates in the heaviest track, "A World of Numbers." The next track, "Somewhere Out There, Someone's House Is On Fire," is the album's lowest sonic space, its eerie drone and distant, spoken-word lyrics reminiscent of The World is a Beautiful Place & I am No Longer Afraid to Die's 2014 release, Between Bodies. In this track, and many others, vocalist Richie Colosimo finds a way to work in a good scream. This EP takes you places, lets you soar, and knocks you down, only to bring you back to Earth. – Chris Sexauer