Del Vertigo – On The Day That You Come To EP Review: Inspiration and Soul Searching

It can be tough to honor those who inspire you. Throughout history, artists have shown gratitude for their achievements by thanking those that came before them for inspiring the works that awarded them recognition. Del Vertigo’s latest EP, On The Day That You Come To, is chock full of nods to their inspirations. The listen begins with Obsidian Hills.

The twangy guitar riff creates an ominous echo to bring you into the track. This makes way for the cries of the vocals, which come in to create an even more dramatic mood. The percussions come in slowly behind the vocals, with the other instrumentals and synths following one by one after this cue. While the track begins in a mysterious and enticing way, it quickly moves into a mix of slow-moving instrumentals that have clear inspirations from acts such as Radiohead but never offer a punch of their own to support the strong vocal performance.

There’s A Glimmer in the Thicket follows Obsidian Hills. A somber guitar leads you into a mysterious aesthetic. The subtle high-pitched squeals of the synths make way for powerfully-delivered vocals. Lines such as “please absolve my woes, you don’t even know how tall the weeds have grown” feel lyrically substantial and are delivered with a grungy edge to offset the sorrowful desperation. As the track progresses, it takes on a bit of a trippier spacey aesthetic from the gloomier one of the intro, which gives the track a meandering feeling when combined with the grungy vocals.

Throughout the EP, each track offers its own cinematic intro of sorts. The Fall is a track with a 3-minute synth-laden intro sequence that feels removed from the rest of the track that follows it. This choice makes it difficult for the tracks to not feel disposable, as each one feels like it struggles with creating a distinct identity for itself by the time each one ends. 

On The Day You Come To is a strange EP that feels very experimental. There are a lot of inspirational motifs in play here that exists behind all the noise. As a result, this EP one only for the most diehard fans of the genre who are looking for a track or two that attempt a new spin on old charm.