Of Blood & Mercury are one of those bands that defy categorisation. Are they prog rock? Goth? Electro-pop? Extreme music? Ethereal Wave? Dream Pop? Dark Ambient? I know band category is something that can be important to some music fans, so all I say is they have a style that combines all these elements and more. In other words, their music is completely original, they never settle for standing still sound wise, and these facts are typified with their new album, The Other Side of Death.

TOSOD (as we will call it), is, at the heart, a concept album. It concerns itself with those first moments, as we shed this mortal coil and begin our new existence in the after-life. Heavy stuff I know, but there's more.

The album was recorded "live" at Roadburn Redux Festival. The sound mix is astonishing it has to be said, in fact, it sounds like a major studio recording, so full and rich is the performance. Furthermore, the album is an exclusively commissioned piece for that event, and the end product itself is strictly limited to 100 digipack CDs. No downloads. Think about it. You could buy one of only 100 copies, of something that is totally unique, and uniquely creative! In a world of Spotify 3 minute emptiness, it's a brave move by the artists to go down the limited physical product route. Brave, but hardly foolish, for this is not an album you can dip into and play one song on your MP3 player anyway. It needs careful consideration, you need to listen!

And there's still more. For the performance, the band used uncommon musical instruments and bizarre items in the performance. They also use distorted recordings of people who have passed to the other side, adding to that haunting, un-nerving atmosphere in the tracks. When used as subtle underlays to Michelle's darkly angelic harmonies, the effect is breath-taking. And what Olivier and the rest of the band manage to do with all those instruments and objects, well, let's just say the wall of sound that comes at you grabs you by the ears, pulls you into your sound system and doesn't let you come out until you understand that 3 minute mp3 downloads are simply not the way to truly enjoy music.

The album is released on the 11th September, and you can pre-order now at their bandcamp page. Remember, the album is strictly limited to 100 copies, and the band have already pre-sold many of them.

In summary, the album is proof that excellent musicianship, conceptual vision and the true essence of music still exist. It's magical, haunting, and brilliant. It's an album made by musicians who feel their music, who are more excited by having a single fan share the band's vision, than by thousands of casual and superficial downloads from your favourite MP3 store. As I said, it's far too thought-provoking as an entire piece for such an approach anyway. TOSOD should, as described elsewhere, be viewed as a "single statement."

That said, I would remind our listeners, that bands like Of Blood & Mercury exist to perform live, and the last near on 2 years have not been kind to either that need to perform, or the coffers that rely on live performances to generate the money so they can continue. Go buy their albums and merchandise at https://ofbloodandmercury.bandcamp.com/, see them live, and PRE-ORDER THIS ALBUM NOW BEFORE NON ARE LEFT.

You will kick yourself if you don't, especially when you hear TOSOD on our shows followed by the terrible words: "and the album is no longer available to buy." Imagine. You hear brilliance, and you cannot purchase it for your own music library to listen to again. As a true fan of music, I can think of no situation more heart-breaking than that.