Carthage / Strange Fruit

Ides of Gemini is relatively new, having released their debut album in 2012, but they gained a following in the metal world pretty quickly, touring with Ghost, which makes sense given their occult-rock leanings. It's hard to put them in a single genre; there are elements of metal and psychedelic rock mixed in with post-grunge in their sound, and Carthage / Strange Fruit is a prime example of this. On Carthage, vocalist/bassist Sera Timms sings in a high but rather hollow voice, underscored by ominous, minimalistic guitar and drumming; after a couple of minutes, the sound spills over into distorted riffing, but even then the vocals stay detached and cold, overlaid to the point that the words are difficult to make out. The second track, a cover of Strange Fruit (most famously performed by Billie Holiday, but covered by more artists than I can think of), starts out even more ominously than the Siouxsie and the Banshees version, becoming even darker and doomier as it goes on. This one's the best of the two, as I really liked the way it's delivered; having almost nothing in common with any other version of the song I've heard before, it sounds like a prophecy of doom. This is short but quite enjoyable. I hadn't heard Ides of Gemini before, but I liked their sound more than Ghost's -- it certainly is more original -- and I will probably be checking out their longer offerings in the future as a result.