S A R G E N T   H O U S E    

EMMA RUTH RUNDLE “ON DARK HORSES” // COVERAGE

"Great artists often tell you their life story through their art, and On Dark Horses will be looked back on as a truly great ‘tale of redemption’ album. " – Metal Hammer

"...there's an emotional spark here that never goes out" – Q Magazine (print) 4/5
 

"Against ominously pounding drums, the music rises around Rundle’s vocals as if she’s summoning the elements into a dance. The resulting sound is something like somber Americana rendered in rich gothic splendor. She’s too good at this." – Stereogum, Darkhorse coverage

 

"On Dark Horses is another incredibly emotional journey of an album. Her best yet." – Metal Injection
 

"some of the dreamiest and most beautiful melancholia you’ll hear all year" – Music & Riots 9/10
 

"This is another confident step forward by an artist who continues to dazzle us with new sides of herself.” – Exclaim! 8/10

 

"It’s heavy music, and it’s beautiful music, not by any conventional measure of either but devastating either way." – Treble “Album of the Week”

 

"Rundle's singular blend of swirling post-rock and doomy gothic metal feels remarkably intimate, even when the decibels are being pushed into the stratosphere.” – AllMusic 4/5

 

"On Dark Horses isn’t just a good record; it’s not even a great one. It is, quite simply, a masterpiece." – Distorted Sound 10/10

 

"Rundle has built titanic soundscapes that allow her emotions to take all of the space they deserve -- and then some.” – No Depression

 

"'On Dark Horses' is some dark, brooding folk that puts Rundle’s distinctive, evocative, and frankly incredible voice in centre stage." – Everything is Noise

"another heavenly collection of heartfelt songs that embellish an already stellar back catalogue of greatness" – Echoes & Dust

"Emma Ruth Rundle is fast becoming one of her generation’s finest purveyors of outsider art” – Punktastic
 

"Drenched in reverb, distortion, and other effects, her guitar sound teeters between beautifully malleable and dense, constantly pierced by her otherworldly voice.” – Chicago Reader

"Quite simply, this woman is beyond superlative, a creative entity able to spark and crush every synapse in the human body, who has once again produced an album that truly touches the soul." – Ghost Cult 9/10

"…the album soars when she’s at her most aggressive, but its lighter tones help elevate those moments even more" – Soundblab 8/10

"...matches MfD‘s fervor and intensity on the equally foreboding yet devastatingly beautiful On Dark Horses.” – The Revue

"another strong solo effort” – mxdwn
 

"...Emma Ruth Rundle refines her craft further by creating an album as melancholic as her peers without cherry-picking from neighboring genres and expertly sewing subtle intricacies into her minimalistic music to create something that sounds genuinely redemptive.”  – SputnikMusic 4/5

"…some of her most intricate, dense, and powerful material to date” – Svbterranean 9/10

"Cohesive in every sense of the word, this album is strong, daring, and brutally honest, soaring past any other ambient work Rundle has put out in the past. There’s so much depth in On Dark Horses, elevating passion with swirling musical triumphs that sends a chill from beginning to end." – StGa 9.5/10

"It's almost a cliché these days to say that a record defies genre conventions, but in the case of On Dark Horses, there isn't a better way to describe it. It combines elements of folk, country, and post metal without belonging to any of them. It vacillates between solemnity and celebration, always maintaining the same emotional heft. So while I might not know what section to put it under in my record collection, I do know it will be getting plenty of time on the turntable.” – Punk Rock Theory 9/10

“This is Emma Ruth Rundle’s best album, and it further proves the continued mastering of her approach to darker music.” – Tanda Media 9/10

"Immediately right up there on first listen as one of my favourite albums of the year, 'On Dark Horses' is the gutsy full-on rock album I desperately needed.” – Higher Plain Music 10/10

"...without question her most carefully-constructed listen to date thanks to its sprawling guitars, morose pianos, and an intermittent crashing of cymbals through the air that mediate fear of the future with a blind courage to forget forward.” – Recommened Listen