Human Taxonomy by Winter Severity Index (Review)

I know it’s May, school’s out for summer, and the days are getting warmer — but any season is the right time for some good darkwave that evokes the depths of winter, and Rome’s Winter Severity Index is some very good darkwave indeed.

Originally the solo project of Simona Ferruci, Winter Severity Index lives up to its name with iced-over synths, brittle guitars, crushed rhythms, and androgynous vocals. The Soft Moon is the closest contemporary comparison — both Ferruci and Luis Vasquez draw from the same dark pools of sound — but Human Taxonomy also contains shades of Writ on Water, Lycia’s elegant gloom, and Pornography-era Cure.

“Waiting Room” is an obvious highlight; the song’s serpentine bass and shimmering guitars create a suitably sorrowful-yet-graceful backdrop for lyrics like “This endless angst dissolves the will to find oneself/And the eternity as one turns into a far grey shade/And then vanishes at all.” Regardless of how sunny it might be outside, this is instantly chilling stuff — and in the finest possible way.