Cassette Review // The Terrible Fates "Pursuing Thaumaturges"

https://heylisten.bandcamp.com/album/pursuing-thaumaturges

This cassette begins with magical tones, swirling around and it feels like we're about to go into a video game.   The tones shift into something lighter now and it makes me feel like Christmas.   As we get further into this instrumental song, it sounds like the soundtrack to some wonderful video game, some quest I certainly feel ready to take.  At times it also just feels like floating around on clouds, which is nice.  

Sounds come through now like digging through shells and there are these little synths behind it that feel like walking, sneaking.   This takes us into an upbeat feeling song, which just feels like the soundtrack to something inside of a castle.  A sax comes through and I just imagine someone going before the King, perhaps a potential Queen.   Those keys come in and it just really feels like medieval royalty.   But this also has that classical sense to it, like how one would watch a play or opera.   We're dancing on springs now and it sounds like rain.

Electronics bring us into percussion now and this song just takes off.  There is this constant banging that just reminds me of a blacksmith getting swords ready for battle.  I just imagine weapons and armor being forged.    We sink down, further into the depths now, and the beat gets faster as we prepare for war.  It just has that drive where you feel as if it's all about to go down.

A quieter flute now and waves crashing, as this becomes more peaceful, reflecting.   A big piano piece comes in now and you can still feel those waves, but there's just a different air to it because of those piano keys.   Synths also come through and make this feel more like a space opera.  A little bit of that rattling percussion and we have reached the end of the first side.  

On the flip side we begin with this song that has these tones with deep vocals that make me think of "Boris the Spider".   It goes off into this blaring sax and feels like we've shifted into something out of "Aladdin" now.   This leads us into more separated sounds which feel like we're going into the Wild West.   As this grows more spatial, it does feel a drumbeat at one point which seems like it's going to turn into a dance number.  

On the next song it feels like we're being taken on a carousel ride.   This felt like we were going through a film such as "Masters of the Universe" but then we quickly transformed into this singing "ah-ahh" while the banging like the hammer is back.  It feels like we're being lifted up and then dropped back down.   That big drum is also banging.   We very briefly go into what reminds me of Christmas and then drop back down into the synth abyss.  

We go into this beautiful lullaby type of sound now.   It just fills the entire air, where it eels like we're floating around but also just redeeming ourselves from some sort of battle.    That brings us to the end of the cassette but in such a nice way because it feels like the battle is over and we can finally get some sleep.