Dreamy Darkwave act Pass/Ages, a project from Jonn Gauntletier and Caitlin Grimalkin, formerly of post-punk act Ars Phoenix summons an otherworldly rhythmic dirge infused with eerie, languid, and precipitous keys and ethereal vocals evoking the haunted swamplands of Central and Southeast Florida—like a bayou boat ride into a parallel dimension.
Their debut album, Taken Underneath, was released in early 2019 on cassette and CD by Katuktu Collective, a tape label from Tustin, California.
“Asphodel” is the first video from Taken Underneath, directed by Terence Hannum from Locrian (Relapse Records) and The Holy Circle (Deathbomb Arc).
Vocalist and lyricist Caitlin Grimalkin explains that “The lyrics were inspired by the Asphodel Meadows of the ancient Greek underworld, a purgatorial landscape covered in ghostly white asphodel flowers that are consumed by the dead. The souls of the unremarkable wander there for eternity, voiceless and pleasureless. Like a captive soul, or a single flower in a field of many whose petals inevitably fall, each of us must face the losses in our ordinary lives with passive complacency.”
Carrying that mood to the visual realm, director Hannum says:
“I wanted to convey a sense of otherworldliness with the video and used the now available NASA footage of the sun to invert into a negative image that fit the theme and sound.”
Watch the video below:
Taken Underneath is out now. Order here.
Photo Credit: Sandy Holmes, Elemental Eyes Photography
