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Jul 19, 2021 By Dom Gourlay Web Exclusive

​Arguably one of the most consistent bands of the 21st Century, it was somehow inevitable that A Place to Bury Strangers would one day return to their incendiary roots. So when founder member and band mainstay Oliver Ackermann announced at the beginning of this year a new line-up featuring former Skywave cohort John Fedowitz the results were always likely to be out of this world.

Indeed, this meeting of A Place to Bury Strangers and Ceremony—whose Sandra Fedowitz has also joined the band on drums—has exceeded expectations so far if Hologram, the first fruits of their alliance are anything to go by. As with all of Ackermann’s previous incarnations of the band, the latest EP opens up a new chapter in their trio’s alluring history. Fusing elements of their unquenching past to create an exciting vision for the future, Hologram makes for an enticing taster of what’s coming next.

Comprised of five pieces that range from the holistic, all out noise attack of “End of the Night” and “I Might Have,” which could be The Hives’ “Hate To Say I Told You So” reimagined for the reverb and fuzz generation. To the slightly less frantic “Playing the Part” which finds Ackermann and co. at their most sensual. Albeit with an added twist of melancholia.

It finishes off with the cataclysmic “I Need You,” but possibly the closest this EP gets to the sonic annihilation template A Place to Bury Strangers set for themselves on the band’s first record is the visceral “In My Hive,” which twists and turns in various directions before breaking down unceremoniously.

Billed as a preview of sorts for an as-yet-untitled full album that’s in the making, Hologram ticks all the right boxes and then some, once again proving that A Place to Bury Strangers are way ahead of the field when it comes to creating experimental noise rock. (www.aplacetoburystrangers.com)

Author rating: 8/10