Copse : "Old Belief | New Despair"

 When it comes to my musical tastes , It's hard to turn down a band that combines shoe-gaze with black metal. This trend did not gain the traction it seemed it might back in 2013 when "Sunbather" was released. There is no ignoring that Copse is following a path laid down by Deafheaven. Not that Deafheaven was the first to go down that road as black metal bands had already toyed with that brand of atmosphere, Weakling being the most notable, that George Clarke has readily admitted to taking influence from. Even Sonic Youth used weird octave chords to buzz up a heavy frenzy despite not being a metal band. So these guys take that and add a sense of who they are into the mix. 

Listening for the band's identity is what my ears go when approaching a project that leans heavily into their influences or a sub-genre that clings to a certain sound. The first track of this ep is a post-rock intro piece that is more about ambiance than adhering to song structure. Then things split into two songs the firs being the "Old Belief" side of the equation. When asking what are they doing that Deafheaven doesn't my initial thought would have been playing heavy music until catching Deafheaven at Rockville this spring where they were more about the rippers than lulling you into a trance. Copse does take a different angle that is less blackened. They guitars balance brutal chugging with sweeping tremolo picked passages to create something that is very dynamic. What I like most about their more aggressive side is when the rein things back to create a grooving tension. They also show more of a technical side in how they shift time signatures under the wall of sound you are hit with. 

"New Despair"  is a almost fifteen minute sprawl. This song finds the band switching over to sung vocals as the guitars relax into  lower riffs that flow like a lazy river. So they prove themselves capable of breaking away into doing their own thing. The screamed vocals return midway into the song, though they have more of a screamo feel than scathing sneer of black metal. Things slowly begin to speed back up into the mood of the previous song but without the blasting intensity until ten and a half minutes in. The drumming is broken up into more of a groove and much more nuanced than what you expect from black metal. They prove themselves to be more than the sum of their parts , I will give this album an 8.5, because even at their most derivative you can still find the shades of who they are.