Anatomy of a Habit : "Black Openings"

 

As a fan of their previous work I was looking forward to this album. However when I clicked on the album and found the first song was 18 minutes long I was taken aback. These guys are post-punk band not prog or funeral doom. It takes the first three minutes to build into the song. If we set aside the fact I do not like long songs, and focus on what works and doesn't work here the facts are these. There is a cool Swans like atmosphere. They build this into a sonically heavy dynamic. When the song winds around to the heaviest section it has the gritty almost industrial feel of early Swans. What does not work as well is the fact they mainly work off a drone. There is also an ambient noise section that kills the songs momentum. edit down the intro and edit out the noise part and we might have been onto something here. 

Of the three songs that make up this album the other two are under the 11 minute mark so more tolerable in that aspect. It is not that I do not like what they were doing in the first song, it just could have been two cooler songs if they broke things up. The second song runs into another problem that goes with the old saying our character assets are the flips side of our character defects. Swans are one of my all time favorite bands. I like when bands draw influence from them as it touches on the sonic aspects I look for in music  music being heavy  but not metal, and carrying a dark and depressing mood. What this requires is balance. 

What is not balance is becoming a tribute band and trying to sound like Swans. sure Godflesh is an influence to at times, but there are parts where it is obvious to any long time fan of swans what is being attempted here. I appreciate that they have moved in a heavier direction , but if that means compromising their sense of identity then They could dial it back a bit.  The more serpentine brooding of the last three minutes is a better balance. I will give this an 8, as they have collected sounds that I like , but on their previous album we heard something more unique which is who they are and not such a blatant leaning into their influences here.