Adam R. Bryant‘s latest project, Salt On Sunday, is set to release their latest album, A Docket of Votive Offerings on August 28th. Blending the raw intensity of Nine Inch Nails with the atmospheric complexity of Tool and A Perfect Circle, A Docket of Votive Offerings is an exploration of personal and cultural history through sound.
On the concept, Adam explains,
“[a] ‘votive offering’ is something you give up for something else, with no intention of getting it back, despite the effort it may have taken to acquire it. More often, the offering feels like an obligation, with an anxiousness about whether or not you’ll be able to appease whatever you are giving it to.”
He continues,
“Salt On Sunday leans more heavily into the experimental spectrum, but is also more ‘music-y’ than my previous releases. The project started after taking some deep dives into my family history, growing up in the states and being raised by a Campanian grandmother.”
The mosaic of influences isn’t just from family history, but that of the music world as well. Be it grunge and post-metal of the ’90s or weaving in elements from doom, fuzz, and drone metal, the eclectic mix is not just a nod to Adam’s musical past but a deliberate effort to push the boundaries of genre conventions.
With A Docket of Votive Offerings rooted in Adam’s ancestry, it infuses each track with historical and emotional weight. Named after the term for witches of Campania, “janara” opens the album and sets the tone for not only historical depth but mystical intrigue. It’s a track that pays homage to Adam’s heritage and reflects the darker aspects of folklore that permeates through the album.
Intentionally subverting one’s expectations is the second track, “ancestor veneration.” Described Adam as a means to disrupt typical track-list order, it serves as a stark prelude to the heavier, more abrasive segments of A Docket of Votive Offerings.There is a sense of purposeful discomfort in the track and what I find most intriguing is that the lyrics themselves are from his great great grandmother’s arrest warrant for being a witch. They evoke a sense of intention that mirrors the vulnerability and uncertainty that accompanies the act of diving into one’s ancestral past.
“Everything is numb and i can no longer tell the difference between time” is a bold experiment and a piece that takes a krautrock-inspired riff and juxtaposes it with surf rock energy before it crescendos into black metal. This approach highlights Adam’s ability to blend musical elements into a cohesive and unpredictable narrative that works like magic itself.
“transportable architecture,” inspired by Do Ho Suh‘s art, and “sotto il nocce di benevento,” a drone piece both showcase Adam’s willingness to explore the textural and atmospheric dimensions of his music. Balancing its more intense moments, the tracks provide a crucial moment of space within A Docket of Votive Offerings for a moment of reflection and thought.
The album’s emotional core is found in “ti voglio bene,” which introduces a more traditional song structure among the experimental chaos. Adam’s guitars create a space through the album’s heavier tones and offer a moment of clarity and warmth.
While the penultimate track, “ai will write my obituary,” is a departure from the album’s previously established sounds which features an accordion and mandolin, it captures the essence of the album and weaves familial and personal history into its intricate musical tapestry.
With its incorporation of samples from The Godfather adding a layer of cinematic closure, “appropriate violence” ends the album by prompting one to digest and reflect on A Docket of Votive Offerings.
In his ability to blend his personal narrative with experimental sounds, Salt on Sunday’s A Docket of Votive Offerings is a wonderful genre-defying listen into the past that haunts us and to the future that, if given space, it can create.
EDITOR’S NOTE: artist stylises their name, album, and/or songs, in lowercase or uppercase letters
