Ceremony is the crown jewel of what’s left of the Bay Area hardcore scene, which is why The L-Shaped Man is a disorienting first listen. On their new record, Ceremony skirts their hardcore origins and instead wades into the equally dark but much more melodic waters of post-punk. I hesitate to say that Ceremony sound like a different band, only because the content of their record echoes the sentiment of releases past. Many of these songs deal with loss, mortal concerns that sound small and insignificant paired with Ross Farrar’s gaunt vocal performance. Regardless of whether or not you like or appreciate it, Ceremony’s aesthetic transition is technically on-point. Stream The L-Shaped Man below.

(via KEXP)

The L-Shaped Man is out 5/19 via Matador.