‘You stayed in bed for the duration, There was no time for explanation, I thought that we were through pretending, But at least now we’ll keep on learning’ (Sunbeam)

When you stand upon the Northumbrian coastline, it is hard not to marvel at its sheer primordial rawness.  As the wind howls, the waves crash and the sky stretches as far as you can see, it is enchanted by a timelessness that seems to course and pulse through the very landscape.  It tells you that just as it was here long before you, so it will assuredly be here long after you are gone.  It is this very sense of natural mysticism that is so expertly invoked by The Last Path.

The instincts of the Northeast trio have been nurtured by the traditions of English folk music and Blunt Synopsis sees the band fuse this understanding with an intriguing blend of more contemporary influences.  Amid the spartan arrangements, dual vocals – one austerely drawled, the other tenderly melodic – deftly intertwine.  Yet, there is also a post-hardcore inclined backbone that sees the mournfully lush, gleamingly serpentine guitar inject a satisfyingly steely resolve that elicits whispers of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead at their more introspective.

As they sweep from the hypnotically surging Sunbeam to the sombre restraint of A Good Hanging, by way of the darkly infectious Hardway, it is hard not to be lured back to those sea frets and windswept beaches.  What emerges is a compelling lesson in the power of unhurried discipline.  Each note, each utterance unfurls with a tenacity to take whatever time is needed.  Riffs coil and repeat, relentlessly building a grip so immersive that you won’t want to shake free of its spell.