Joy Von Spain – Queen City Sounds and Art

Seattle’s Eye of Nix has since 2012 established itself as a band that has mastered a synthesis of black metal, dark psychedelia and what might be called a tribal dream pop. The group’s engrossing songs are written in a style that often not only employs the language of mythology but guide the listener to that headspace where one’s own psychological issues intersect with the larger narratives of one’s immediate community and environment and the world. In 2020 Eye of Nix released its latest album Ligeia, named after one of the sirens of Greek mythology, and its song cycle courses through harrowing experiences and how we often allow ourselves to be seduced by our most self-destructive impulses as individuals and as a collective species. The lead single “Concealing Waters” embodies the group’s eclectic aesthetic as the instrumentation is both hypnotically and hauntedly tranquil and gritty and sweepingly melodramatic while Joy Von Spain’s vocals span a similarly broad expanse of sounds with operatic, introspective melodies and the distortion of emotional intensity caught up in the moment. The song is both soothing in tone and subject while challenging our instinct for comfort in a time of crisis with a primal need to breath through a negative stasis. The music video reflects the sense one gets of a song and an album that strips the psyche of the influence of civilization that has alienated us from ourselves and from each other allowing for the journey of a healing struggle to reconnect with ideas and ways of being that are sustainable and might transform the world for the better. Fans of Xmal Deutschland and SubRosa will appreciate the deep, dynamic atmospheres of the song and an attendant willingness to embrace the wildness within. Watch the video for “Concealing Waters” on YouTube and connect with Eye of Nix at the links provided.