Zach Top Afterimage [VINYL]

Transparent magenta viny. RESTLESS SPIRIT's third album, "Afterimage", embodies the East Coast trio's aim of never wanting to sound exactly like before. Long Island deep-fried guitars meet pounding rhythms and emotionally raw vocals. Where the predecessor "Blood of the Old Gods" (2021) sometimes ushered the listener into twisted complexity, "Afterimage" delivers short, sharp shocks that hit straight home. Lyrically, "Afterimage" is driven by tragedy and personal loss. Singer and guitarist Paul Aloisio has put his heart and soul into the album. "Afterimage" might well be read as a cautionary tale. Embarking on their musical journey very early in life, RESTLESS SPIRIT's core of Aloisio and bassist Marc Morello met the summer before Kindergarten and grew up discovering music side by side. Channelling influences like BLACK SABBATH, TYPE O NEGATIVE and THE SWORD and incorporating aggressive modern metal, unabashed stoner-doom pummelling, energetic changes and stirring, earnest vocals, their band was finally christened RESTLESS SPIRIT in 2019. Their debut full-length "Lord of the New Depression" (2019) fit equally well into the stoner, doom, and sludge moulds, while on "Blood of the Old Gods", the three-piece developed a more varied, melodic approach with added complexity. On the live front, the Long Island band has undertaken several tours in support of "Blood of the Old Gods" and shared stages with the likes of CROWBAR, THE OBSESSED, and CANNIBAL CORPSE. With "Afterimage", RESTLESS SPIRIT deliver a massive punch to the gut that actually feels damn great once the initial pain subsides.