Joyless – Without Support (2011)

Formed by members of Forgotten Tomb, today we have Joyless and their first full-length release in 10 years titled “Without Support”. In this release the band gives us 11 tunes of Psychedelic/Depressive Rock with a very dark and minimalistic approach to music.

Lead by the charming (and depressing) voice of Ida Helleboe, the band rocks out songs that will definitely fit a rainy day mood and will depress the life out of the listener. After changing from Black Metal to Depressive Rock in their amazing “Wisdom & Arrogance” album back in 2000, the band has been releasing a series of split releases culminating in “Without Support”.

Since the first track “Have a Nice Fight”, the band sets a very mellow mood constructed of catchy guitars and heavenly vocals. Even with its bleak atmosphere, the band does have ‘higher intensity’ moments like on “Puberty and Dreams”, but the overall depressive atmosphere is what we enjoy the most from this excellent band.

In “The Adorn Japetus”, we get some of the most chilling vocal moments oozing emotion and sadness. The band brilliantly uses the harmonica in tracks like “The Soft Addition” and “Better”, giving the listener a more dynamic and traditional Hard Rock sound than it their ‘sadder’ compositions.

The band is not shy to experiment with different tempos and in songs like “De Profundis Domine” we get a different side of Joyless with more intensity and flair. Other songs like “Trilobite” and “Velvet Willows” sound exactly like what we expect to listen at our local dive bar and we love it. Closing the album we have “Journey”, a track that reminded us of the enigmatic Jex Thoth.

While Depressive/Psychedelic Rock might not be for everybody, Joyless delivers an amazing album full of emotion and straight up good music. The band has a wide variety of classic Rock influences, and this will surely appeal a wide variety of fans. We can only hope that they keep up the good work and release full-length albums more often.

Release: March 11th, 2011

Country: Norway