November is Doom - Vnder A Crvmbling Moon : II Aging and Formless"

 This British Metal project is heavy on the sonic despair which makes me a fan of how they drone into the sprawling expanse of shadow. They think of themselves as blackened doom, but they are really just sludge. "Nocturnal Passenger" drones on the same throb for the duration, though it does have a hooky melody to it so that is ok. The thing that holds these guys is there is a very uniform pulse to their songs. "Procession' does start with more of a melodic simmer and works more like an interlude when the chords t kick in for "Breach the Sky" and they begin to build momentum, it begins to sound like the previous songs, with only small nuances giving it it's own identity. 

Thus making this more about a sound they have conjured than songs that speak for themselves. If you let this album just play it all runs together. This does not get better as "The Breathing of Monsters" finds the growls maintaining their same power, but aside from some sung vocals mixed far in the background, there has one been one vocal color this entire album. The tempo has leaned more toward the doom end of sludge which works for me, but how about some groove at some point, the hypnotic drones thing they are doing works, but not if that is all they do. If I played in a band like this I would get lost as hell in the song as they all sound the same you would never know which song you are playing. Oh yes, this one has the spoken part. 

"Fall Still " finds the biggest shift with the more blue-based chord progression. The vocals are smoky and cool but it does not go anywhere and amounts to little more than an interlude. A similar statement could be said for the last song but it's a more experimental variation of the formula they have been using already, cool sounds but not a cool song. Songs are stories. You can't not say wouldn't it be cool if this guy ate shadows, sounds good in theory, but where do you go from there. A guy who eats shadows is a cool idea, but not a story, he needs to go places and experience things, much like a song does with a riff. There are good ideas on this album, not good songs I will give it a 6.

pst579

Vnder a Crvmbling Moon : "I : Oblivion"

 In February of this year the British band released the album that is the first part, and now here comes the second. They can spell their name with all the V's they want but it is not going to make them black metal. They open their newest full length with a thirteen minute sonic sprawl. Things start off with a minimal droning strum of guitar before building into mammoth riffs that trample over you. The first narrative a is a commanding growl that booms to the forefront. The harsh vocals vary in pitch as the song progresses, but the lower coarse growl is the focal point. The guitars are well layered and it shows they can use atmosphere effectively without dulling the sting of their attack. My first impression is favorable, though there is some fat to be trimmed. 

The second song is under twelve minutes. There is a darker more depressive weight to the mood of things that recalls funeral doom. The vocals are growled at a lower more despair drenched gurgle. Eight and a half months things break down into a minimal strum of clean guitar. I can understand the comparisons to post-rock here. However this lacks the  cinematic scope of dramatic dynamics that is essential to post -rock. A guitar solo of sorts does erupt at this point though. It is more like a tasty layer of nuanced melody than any shredding. The lean in closer to the doom sound again on "A Call From the Void".  The guitar solo that was hinted at on the previous song is more engaged going into this one. Not as languishing in grief as the previous song. Midway into it , things drop back down to the minimalist strum that we have heard now for the third time on this album. Actual singing comes in. While I appreciate including more melodic shades, the song it self feels like a disconnected journey. The melodic guitar playing continues to prove to be this band's strength. 

"Destruction" is a denser more singularly drive rumble of guitar. The growled vocals are more resonate not unlike  death metal gutturals. Sung vocals surface midway in, and offer another shade of melody that is welcome. There is more of a Jesu feel to the last song. The hypnotic guitars woven about are airy, with sung vocals holding a more droning chant under the tapestry of sound draped over them,  Five minutes in the growled vocals return.  Overall these guys are good at what they do even if the lines are blurred when it comes to what they do, and the songs wander at times , which if they refined them down to a highly focused 7 minutes a piece this could be a more tightly coiled machine. I will give this album an 8.5.