Even with Isis‘ seat soon to be up for grabs it’s not likely that Rosetta will be making any plays for the throne. Throughout their surprisingly prolific career, the band haven’t exactly set their sights on a mainstream breakthrough, instead focusing on the music first and foremost. Sure honest intentions don’t pay the bills, but that doesn’t stop Rosetta on “A Determinism Of Morality“.
Perhaps more so than previous efforts from the band, this latest boasts density. The atmosphere remains nearly impenetrable as the band freely explore their heavier side. The juxtaposition of weight and weightlessness is readily apparent as most songs are flush with tendrils of jangling, spacey guitar colliding with a droning, earthy rhythm section and throaty bellowed vocals. It is this tension of disparate elements having to work together which often keeps the material moving forward.
True there is a somewhat jam-like element to a few of the songs with the drums largely being the busiest offender, but this is also what gives this album a human touch. Unfortunately though the songwriting does tend to be a bit heavy handed – a trait that proves to be the albums proverbial Achilles heel. While the group have largely curtailed their sonic excursions to the six minute mark, they tend to get bogged down on a similar droning passage for so long that by the time the payoff does come, the listener is already worn out.
Certainly the band will appeal to those already inclined to the various offshoots that emerged in Neurosis‘ wake. The organic flow and primal heaviness of the effort also do much to prove Rosetta‘s worth. But in the end, “A Determinism Of Morality” feels like neither a high watermark for the band nor an album that will transcend past the confines of an already crowded sub-genre whose bar has been raised to impossibly high levels.
Instead it feels the expressive escape of a blue collar band with their head in the clouds. Expansive and intriguing with ample intelligence and brawn, but lacking in the creative ambition necessary to reach that much needed next level. Ironic it is that a band that so freely thinks outside of the box has somehow found themselves painted into a corner.
