Welcome to Infernal Visions, a column where I review an album and pull a tarot card, oracle, or rune called forth by said album, sharing my interpretation of the card and how I feel it relates to the music. Let us bring together distortion and divinity. This week’s calling is post-punk album Pull Me Toward the Dark by Deeper Graves (out now) and The Hermit.
The Call: Deeper Graves – Pull Me Toward the Dark
Deeper Graves is the solo project of Jeffrey Wilson—contributing all instrumentals, vocals, production/engineering, and album art. Pull Me Toward the Dark is the third full-length album in his discography and closes a four-year gap between releases. Combining textured synth-heavy atmospherics, shoegaze, doom, post-punk, goth rock, and exploring space and emotional depth and unease—the result is meditative and immersive. There are long moments of instrumentals, experimental interludes, and memorable emotive melodies. Each track brings something distinct.
It opens with orchestral synths before layering ominous electronic sounds, creating a cinematic feel. This opening instrumental track flows perfectly into “No Time for Love,” which channels a classic goth rock energy and reminds me of She Wants Revenge. Wilson’s vocal performance is appropriately moody. “Over My Shoulder” is a more doom/doomgaze heavy track and one of my favorites on the album. It is dark and unfolds slowly with tremolo guitar, marching drums, and wailing vocals. The combination of styles and techniques throughout the seven tracks is well-curated, with skilled songwriting, and makes each track distinguishable while still working together to create a cohesive feel. Pull Me Toward the Dark closes with its title piece and is the longest of the collection, running just over six minutes. Mainly instrumental, it features heavily distorted, reverberating vocals that surface almost halfway through, leaving a mark and then disappearing. The music is melancholic and stirs unease with an almost growling electronic intro, simple yet pulsating drumming, and echoing guitar tones. The music slowly fades out, leaving you while continuing on into the darkness and unknown.
Pull Me Toward the Dark unfurls and evolves slowly. The focus on atmosphere has each track somewhere between song and soundscape, with the vocals adding emphasis and weight when needed. The tracks build slowly, layer by layer, and then decompose, breathing. Listeners are held down by the peak of each song while drifting with the ebbs and flows, appreciating each sound and moment along the way.
The Card: The Hermit
Pulled upright, this major arcana card brings to mind peace, solitude, and reflection. It suggests taking time and space for yourself to do some introspection, offering a chance to self-explore to determine what you need in this moment and take the space to heal. When I see this card, I tend to take time to do some shadow work and journaling. I ensure I create the right setting, doing some cleansing with incense, picking a quiet spot (I love to be in nature if possible), and having a personalized playlist on in the background. I sometimes see it as a sign to step away from a packed schedule and carve out time for myself to re-center. Ultimately, it’s an invitation to slow down, ground myself, and look inward to determine what I need right now for my wellbeing. If pulled to apply to a specific situation or question, I take it as a sign to step back for a bit to observe and refrain from taking immediate action.
The Hermit makes sense with Pull Me Toward the Dark. The album creates a strong focus on space where the quiet takes on as much meaning as the sound. It is meant for listeners to sit with the music and take the time to feel the weight of it. Described as having been “…shaped by solitude, reflection, and the slow passage of time…,” I cannot imagine a more appropriate card to fit the meaning of the album and the creative approach behind it. Formed from the solitary vision of Wilson and brought to light without external influence, Pull Me Toward the Dark is a true passion project and a journey of introspection.
I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Infernal Visions. I look forward to speaking about a variety of albums and using all sorts of decks to bring this column to life.
Blessed be.
–Angela
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