Silver Cord

The first recorded reference to the silvery cord that connects the physical world to the world of spirits appears in the twelfth book of Ecclesiastes. This unifying of seemingly incompatible essences is also present in the music of the Silver Cord, one of the few bands to make the aesthetic connections between post-punk, shoegaze, goth rock and the truly dark places visited by the better black-metal bands. Droningly haunting vocals inhabit murky, insistent rhythms ringed with spectral synths, while the guitar work trades off between live-wire spiky tones and chillingly evocative ethereal chiming. Listen closely and you'll hear shades of Aske-era Burzum, the ghostly headiness of Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, and the chillingly strident whispers of pre-neo-folk Death in June in the act's sound. With those kinds of roots, you'd be excused for thinking the Silver Cord (due at Crossroads Theater in Boulder on Saturday, October 27) is a merchant of doom, gloom and despair. But the act's overall tone is brighter and richer than a fetishistic goth revival could ever be.