junius/rosetta

Coming at you on September 27th is a  split by two bands you better know in 2011. Their names: Junius and Rosetta. One is a Philadelphian band named Rosetta who released their third album, A Determinism of Morality, last year. The other, Junius, a band from Boston whose last record (2009’s The Martyrdom of Catastrophist) took almost 3 years to complete and was inspired by the works of Immanuel Velikovsky. Yeah, they’re deep.

“A Dark Day With Night” begins as if it’s a message being delivered from the heavens. Add the truly angelic vocals provided by Joseph E. Martinez to the mix and you have something even more godlike. For a band like Junius, saying one of their songs is epic is an understatement. Like a cross between Pelican, Mogwai,  and local brothers-in-arms Constants, Boston’s Junius merge melody with a maelstrom of sounds effortlessly.

Rosetta’s contribution to the split, “TMA-3”, sounds like it could’ve been off of Isis’ Panopticon.  The riffs that come down around the 3 minute mark are just nasty and are as equally mind-blowing as the abrasive vocals being channelled through your speakers. The math metal that follows is truly amazing as vocalist Michael Armine gives Aaron Turner a run for his money in the throaty angst department.

With only two tracks here yet coming in at just under 20 minutes, the Junius/Rosetta split is a no-brainer in your must-have pile. For Rosetta, it’s a chance to get acquainted with an overlooked band and check out 2010’s A Determinism of Morality finally. With Junius, it’s the perfect way to get you more excited for their next opus, Reports From the Threshold of Death (watch for a single review soon), due in October. Don’t miss out on either.

Junius/Rosetta is out on Translation Loss on September 27th. Check out Junius’ contribution here, Rosetta’s here, then buy it here.