SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: closetjudas – entelechy

closetjudas
entelechy
Independent

Mike Powell is closetjudas and entelechy is his most recent EP.  It is the followup to 2019’s lunacy + the second naïveté. Since 2016 closejudas has released quite a bit of music and entelechy continues to show that Powell, as an artist, continues to grow and combine different genres to create his own music.  For the most part, this is a truly independent release. Produced, written, and performed by Powell, demonstrates that he can adapt and alter his playing throughout the EP. He does have some help, mainly with vocals and the use of drum samples.

Depending on how you listen to the EP, the opening tracks differ. Listening to it on Bandcamp, the opening song is “Verified As Invalid”, but with the download, the EP opens with the spoken “lunacy (a short story)”, which sets up the concept of the EP. Basically, entelechy deals with  the end of the world. Really it is about how the end of the world is basically not really a big deal. It is well worth your while to download the EP for such extras. But, closetjudas explores the different aspects of humans making sense of the great ending. This heavy topic is told through post-punk, spoken word, and dark electronic music. Basically, it is a dark trip into a world of insignificance.

Musically, closetjudas strives to match this topic with the music and succeeds. The songs differ but musically connect. Track one, “Verified As Invalid” is a slow burn and the perfect introduction.  By track three, “not undaunted”, the guitars grind out the solid backing with strong vocals from Powell, whereas “triple zero” is a bit heavier and denser, bordering on 1990s alternative metal. Not screamo, but it does have the feel of older metal-punk. The song works, given the subject matter and the lyrics. It is a heavy project, and there is a density to the music which is perfect.

Interestingly, as mentioned, if one downloads the EP from Bandcamp (which closetjudas strongly encourages the listener to obtain for free), one is treated to bonus tracks, including a cover of Joy Division’s “Day Of The Lords”. It is always tricky covering Joy Division, for various reasons, but closetjudas does make it his own. It is not as dark as Joy Division but is more angry. But that is just one of four bonus tracks, so really, the EP becomes an album. One other bonus track, “Destroy The Moon”, is an alterate version of the track from lunacy + the second naïveté.

This is a very ambitious project. A lot could have gone wrong (especially when covering Joy Divison) but Powell rises to the challenge and has produced a very serious piece of work. In some ways, it is a metal-punk prog rock project. Whatever it you want to call it, entelechy is a fascinating work and truly original.

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