Pathway – renatus

genres: vaporwave + devotional

I’ll admit I only checked this album out because I liked the art, but the music made me glad I did. Not to be confused with the metalcore band Pathways. Or the other (progressive) metalcore band Pathways (who incidentally has an intriguing new album coming out sometime soon). This Pathway will probably be lumped into the “worship” category by most music services, but that label does a disservice in describing what the group has created on this brief four song EP. For starters, while lyrically it shares themes with many worship acts, both musically and vocally it is far too complex for corporate use. Then there’s the music itself, which is a distinct blend of upbeat vaporwave and futurejazz. Electronic beats, simple and smooth piano progressions, and synthetic horns are all arranged into subtle complexity. Not an unusual combination in the underground electronic scene – and the music alone would be solid if not revolutionary – but there’s vocals! To my knowledge, there are only a handful of releases working in this sort of atmospheric vaporwave space with even competent vocal performances, and what we get here is well above competent. Multiple voices – male and female – are woven through all four tracks to great effect. If you’re interested in religious music – or even just looking for vocal vaporwave – this is a great short release.

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