Ceremony Rocket Fire

There is no better sound to me than that of thickly layered, heavily distorted guitars, bursts of feedback all played at an overwhelming volume. I’m begging for noise induced hearing loss. I don’t care (at least not now, ask me again in twenty years). When all of this meets quality songwriting, driving drums and a well constructed album I become elated and feel the urge to plug it into some bigger speakers, much to the chagrin of my neighbors. Give me a thick, hazy mix full of all the noises a guitar can possibly make and I’m in heaven.

Ceremony fits the bill just right. They have pop sensibilities deeply embedded in every aspect of their songwriting. It’s clear that they put a lot of effort into the songs at a basic level before saturating them with feedback, distortion and overwhelming volume. Any of these songs could be stripped of their fuzz and stand easily on their own. Ceremony evolved from the same roots as A Place to Bury Strangers, and they sound like their logical antithesis. APTBS leans toward the balls-out noise end of shoegaze, whereas Ceremony head toward the pop side.

Even though every song has the potential to stand alone, the impenetrable wall of guitar definitely adds to the effect of the music. The builds are more satisfying and the album far better for it. Every track is packed with an unbelievable amount of increasingly cathartic sound and noise.  They exhibit no restraint, and why should they? They’re damn good at what they do.      

While it’s far from being an album meant to flow from track to track to create something greater than the sum of its parts, it is well put together and assembled. The arrangement and pacing is logical and well done. It goes by quick and only lags when it gets stuck in a lack-of-variety rut, which isn't very often. 

Rocket Fire is a simple album. A simple album wrapped in layers of noise, but simple nonetheless. That’s not a bad thing; on the contrary, it’s refreshing. It’s a nice, easy listen and it’s solid throughout. I (along with another reviewer on this site, Juan Eduardo Rodriguez), would like to fine-tune my ratings a little bit. I’d rather not inflate scores, so I’m giving it a 7/10, but rest assured, it is very much worth your time.