Great screamo bands can tell a full story through the instrumentals alone, which is convenient because on a first listen you may only catch a few words or, depending on the vocalist, sometimes you’ll have zero idea what they’re screaming about at all until you look at the lyric sheet.

Austin, Texas band Rose Ceremony and their new EP, somewhere the sun sets east, tells that entire story and more in a perfect example of what I call “high quality lofi” recordings. The EP conveys various complex emotions ranging from exasperation, ire, melancholy, and saudade. Amongst the 6 songs and 10 minutes, the EP sends out frantic blasts of urgency and panicked signals in the opening two kickoff tracks “ashes” and “circling the drain”. Showcasing hints of their composing influences from both Saetia and New Forms by utilizing the trademark chopped and spastically structured rhythms you’d expect of those bands.

Later we get a few brief moments to slow down a tad and reflect on itself in the dreamy riffs of “a choir” which starts tranquil and slow before bursting out into a trempicked melody that will elevate you side by side with the ascending scale being launched into space. The slow ballad opening riffs on “home” that follow the previous track let the acoustic and their shiny clean guitar tone merge as one over the anguished screams of the entire bands vocals..

All these heartsick, empty spaces

They feel so familiar to me

And these homesick, waning faces

They feel so familiar to me

Watch them wither away again

The band really all comes together at a peak during the self titled track “somewhere the sun sets east” as if it was intentional to hear the entire EP as one piece, one singular experience.

We had a quick chat with the band to get the details on this release.

WHAT BANDS DO YOU CONSIDER INFLUENTIAL TO THIS EP AND YOUR WRITING STYLE?

“Our influences for this EP include bands that emphasize flowery, melodic guitar passages, such as Age Sixteen and Matsuri, along with bands like Comadre and Amygdala who have a more hardcore punk sound. We all grew up with the emo / pop punk / whatever-you-wanna-call-it of the early 2000’s, so it’d be a disservice not to mention bands like Taking Back Sunday and My Chemical Romance as obvious influences.”

WHAT WAS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR THE SOMEWHERE THE SUN SETS EAST?

“Everyone in the band plays guitar, and for this EP, someone would come to the table with a riff, and we would usually hangout at someone’s house to write the guitar parts, and then we’d bring the songs to the practice space to add drums and rewrite parts.”

WHAT WAS YOUR RECORDING PROCESS FOR THE EP?

“The recording process for this EP was very seamless and straightforward. After demoing our songs, we worked with Tim Hayward at Numb Kit Audio where we recorded and mixed everything in the timespan of one week. The release was then mixed by Tim Hayward at Numb Kit Audio, and mastered by Will Killingsworth at Dead Air Studio.

As a band we really like how these six songs fit together. We really hope that people listen to the EP and feel like they went on an exciting, emotional roller coaster.”

“WE WRITE IN A WAY THAT HOPEFULLY LETS PEOPLE INTERPRET OUR LYRICS TO FIT THEIR OWN LIVES. OUR LYRCIS CAN BE FULL OF VISCERAL IMAGERY OR TAKE A MORE ABSTRACT APPROACH. FOR THIS EP WE WE WROTE WITH THE MARGANALIZED IN MIND, THINKING ABOUT THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE, POLICE BRUTALITY AND THE MASSACRE OF EL MOZOTE, WHILE ALSO WRITING ABOUT OUR PERSONAL STRUGGLES.”

- CARLOS @roseceremonytx

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR ROSE CEREMONY IN 2025?

“Soon, we’ll release a lil tour b roll music video. Within the next few months, we plan on recording two songs for a split while we write the next LP. We’d love to get invited to play screamo fests with our contemporaries and tour more in general.”

ANY SHOWS OR TOURS PLANNED FOR THIS RELEASE?

“We did a tour in the midwest to promote our EP, so we’re taking it a little easy now that we’re back. We have shows booked on Feb. 1st, and March 19. This summer, however, we have a small tour planned that we can’t really talk about just yet.”

ANY CLOSING WORDS OR THOUGHTS FOR THE READERS?

“Free Palestine, ACAB, fuck ICE and viva la raza.”

With compositions that aren’t overly florid and the flowery lyrics that accompany them, this bands first offering of somewhere the sun sets east is a tremendous start that’s easy to listen to over and over and we look forward to hearing their next release as I imagine this is only the start of what’s going to be a big impact in the emo underworld.

There’s still a few tapes left over at Tiny Sounds so be sure to grab a copy before they’re gone and follow the band on their socials to plug into what they’ll be cooking up for this year!