{"id":77093,"date":"2019-03-15T14:00:42","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=77093"},"modified":"2025-06-08T11:41:05","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T10:41:05","slug":"review-parting-gift-ensom-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-parting-gift-ensom-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Parting Gift &#8211; Ensom EP"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Parting Gift<\/strong> have a certain magic. If you have been lucky enough to catch them live, it\u2019s undeniable. Their songs feature a bedrock of hardcore and post-hardcore guitar, bleached out behind a delicate yet catchy vocal, all threaded through with melancholy. \u2018<em>Ensom<\/em>\u2019 is their first &#8220;proper&#8221; EP after signing with Fearless Records and that magic has never been stronger.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last two years, a steady stream of singles has seen the band establish their sound and explore different avenues, slowly uncovering exactly where their strengths lie. Hence \u2018<em>Pale<\/em>\u2019 opens out as you\u2019d expect, with a wash of guitars and subdued riffs, always teasing a huge chorus, which duly arrives. It\u2019s everything they have presented us with thus far, but from here the EP takes an unexpected turn into more experimental territory.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Parting Gift - Pale (Official Music Video)\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lwODlJhhxZQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Having shed the aggressive vocals found on their first singles, Zac Vernon now performs everything in a haunting, near-beautiful style. So while the slow, delayed guitars of \u2018<em>3:07 (Moonlight)<\/em>\u2019 gives him space to play around, by the time we reach \u2018<em>Cold<\/em>\u2019, Peter Vybiral and Jack Dutton\u2019s riffs have fallen away completely. They&#8217;re replaced with the sound of wind across a frozen plain, leaving the fragile singing to prick the hairs on your neck.<\/p>\n<p>Giving the EP the title \u2018<em>Ensom<\/em>\u2019 (a word meaning loneliness) couldn\u2019t be more fitting as the feeling is evoked with the delicate and mournful lyrics, especially on the title track, which closes the set by returning to the distant riffs and shredding, bringing their sound full circle.<\/p>\n<p>By having the chance to spread their wings, <strong>Parting Gift<\/strong> do more than that, bravely stepping into unexpected territory. \u2018<em>Ensom<\/em>\u2019 sees them establish their sound while still pushing forward, laying a solid foundation for what\u2019s to come while living up to the promise of their early work. Yes, it feels a little like they\u2019re still finding their way, but when the results are this effective, that\u2019s no bad thing.<\/p>\n<p>4\/5<\/p>\n<p>\u2018<em>Ensom<\/em>\u2019 EP by <strong>Parting Gift<\/strong> is released on 22nd March on <strong>Fearless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Parting Gift<\/strong> links: \u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/partinggiftband\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/partinggiftband\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/partinggiftband\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Words by Ian Kenworthy (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhisperingSand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@WhisperingSand<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;\u2018Ensom\u2019 sees Parting Gift establish their sound while still pushing forward.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":99141,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,2269],"tags":[16703,15783,39,15621,15244],"class_list":["post-77093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-ep-review","tag-ensom","tag-ep-reviews","tag-fearless-records","tag-ian-kenworthy","tag-parting-gift"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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