Scars of Erosion - The Endless Wear of Seasons

Scars of Erosion

The Endless Wear of Seasons
self-released; 2017

​3.7 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

The Endless Wear of Seasons is a solo album written around the themes of loss and the room it creates for new growth, in natural systems and in one's personal life. As the  artist known as Scars of Erosion explains, “Being an instrumental album it does not explicitly tell this, or any story” but he used his personal experience to catapult the experience.

The Endless Wear of Seasons is an electronic album that utilizes synth, piano, orchestral strings and more. I would have loved to have heard organic piano and strings but sometimes you just have to work with what you have. Unfortunately virtual instruments as of yet don’t sound close to as good as actual players to me.

The artist cites NIN as an influence and that felt fairly obvious after spending some time with the album. Not everything worked for me on this album but the artist does have some inspired moments along the way. I sometimes felt certain sections in a song would be too repetitive and could have benefited from brevity. That being said when it clicks it really clicks.

He opens with “Washing Ashore” which is one of the highlights. The combination of synths and strings work well together creating a warm, nostalgic wave of noise. There are some effective melodic changes and there was a nice flow to the song.

“Meltwater” felt like a transitional ambient piece for “Windworn.” The NIN influence felt evident on this track. The track has a groove but at the same time doesn't feel like it drives the energy. It almost has a new age vibe when the electronic chimes come. into the mix. 

“Star Stained Sky” is a five-plus-minute piece that is largely ambient and ominous. There isn't much movement on the track and I’m just not talking about percussion. The heavy sine waves  loom in the background for most of the song before giving way to the focal instruments.

​“Resultant Waves” has an obscure elevator music feel to it while “Sinking Above Us” has waves of white noise and synth. He ends with a sparse, lone piano song called “It's the Questions, Not the Answers.” 

The most impressive thing about this album to me was the way the songs tied together. Because of that I felt like the album worked better for me than any individual song did. I didn’t feel like any songs were repeat worthy songs that I just had to listen to again after I heard them. The best way to enjoy this album is by listening to it in sequential order. Recommended.

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