Rope Sect : "Enstrangement"

As a big fan of this band, we have covered every release from this German band, and they have yet to disappoint, so when it popped up in the old inbox there was a great deal of excitement. This project has never been content just settling for one sound and milking it. The album opens with a more familiar sound that picks up closer to where they left off marrying the metallic energy of their picking hand with the melancholy of post-punk. This comes with a cleaner guitar sound and not the overdriven metal tone. They are not metal, though this album does go in a more rock direction. 

With the second song, things begin to shift into an almost progressive rock zip code. There is a more angular mathematics to the way the riffs wind around The vocals remain at a steadfast yet modest croon. The guitar solos that surface are pretty impressive in their melody addition to the song. This album takes multiple listens to sink in and is best digested through headphones, due to where the vocals in the mix. "Nefelibatas' clicked as it had a darker throb amid the wall of jangling guitar encircling the more delicate vocals. The vocals almost have a folk cadence at times. This sets it aside from the typical post-punk adjacent acts that use a starker delivery. It almost reminds me of Opeth's "Damnation" album in this regard, but the drums are more driving there. 

"L'Appel Du Vide" is more driving almost to a punk extent., with the vocals offsetting this mood. The bass playing is more melodic on this one and the song pauses for room to breathe at times."Mementote" finds the band at their most metallic on this album so far, opening with a great deal of bombast before locking into a riff you might expect on a Judas Priest album. The vocals anchor it in their identity. They even lock in plenty of harmonized guitar lines to drive the metal mood home. They continue with palm-muted tension pushing "Massenmench" forward. The vocals play a more subtle back seat to the guitar, making it a little less compelling than the previous song. 

There are more shadows to the sound with which "Hindsight  Bias" is painted. I appreciate the fact they do not follow traditional songwriting structures, while still working subtle hooks into the melodies. The pace picks up for the last song. King Dude lends his voice to it, leaning the song in a more typical post-punk direction. Things do build into a more black metal-influenced passage with harsh vocals set back in the distance, so the guitar melody might prevail.. I will give this album a 9.5, as it is more obtuse with the hooks buried more subtly requiring more time to sink in, but a logical step forward to a band that deserves much more recognition. 

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Robin Guthrie: "Springtime"

One of My favorite guitarists has marked his 60th birthday by releasing a new album. This is an instrumental effort that is not far removed with his work in the Cocteau Twins. It floats like something from a David Lynch soundtrack. I would be down for him doing an album with Juliee Cruise. The first song is high ambient, aside from the opening notes that are allowed to ring out the textured guitar blends more with the synths on the first song.  You do not hear the more classic Cocteau Twins sound shimmer out from his guitar until the heave kissed notes float through the sonic clouds of " the Faraway". Much like I said with Johnny Marr's newest solo albums these artists work will always be measure against their past glories. If you know Guthrie's name you are not clicking on this not because of Violet Indiana, but because of the Cocteau Twins. 

There is a dreamier drone to " Another Part of Nowhere". I found myself having to back and listen to this song a few times before it clicked, and I was able to think of it as a composition that stood on its own two feet and not just a movement in this atmospheric symphony of sorts. It hangs on a single note melody, not unlike some of the Coteau's earlier work. This is all pretty bright mood wise, sure I can hear drifting off upon a silky throb of narcotics to this, but there is not a fey land wonderment without Elizabeth's voice on this thought for what this is it is an easy listen and pleasent on the ears.  Not fitting neatly into being dream pop, shoe gaze or post rock the sounds here will still appeal to fans all of those sub-genres. 

The last song is more synth focused at first. The drum programming is what shifts the dynamics as things get more dense sound wise. There is less clear-cut melody and more experimental bending of sounds. Until perhaps the last minute of this song. I will give this a 9 for all the reason that I have previously stated this works, Chances are when I am in the mood to listen to this sort of thing, I will just pull out my Cocteau Twins albums, but for what this is and given the current state of that band I am happy with this and think fans of his work will be as well. 

Bossk : " Migration"

 The post rocky instrumental they open with is cool and the pleasing sounds were good background music but not as compelling of a song as "Menhir" that follows. While the vocals are your typical sludge gruff bark, they bring things together with the needed narrative, The rest of the song is woozy and atmospheric so they serve as a guide post and ground the song to give a more emotional layer. They have refined their songwriting, yet expansion of their sonic scope is still felt on "HTV-3" when there is more of a rock n roll feel to the swagger of the hazy groove. Not unlike Kylesa. Josh from Palm Reader lends his voice to the track which is a more subtle sung croon in the vein of say the Deftones. 

The problem with this album is when it gets lost in it's own atmosphere, and the songs are almost not even there. To me they are more like interludes. The only problem with a piece like "Kibo" is it is over four minutes long and does not really go anywhere. Normally I exclude these sorts of things when scoring them for a review, but this band obviously thinks they are songs so I will count it.  If you are going to do an instrumental then "Lira' is the way they need to do it. It goes from a shoe gazing rock into a sludged out head banging groove. I am not opposed to instrumentals just make sure they rock enough to keep my attention.  

The do not close out the album in an as epic manner, though there is a shift in dynamics to " Unberth" there is a Pink Floyd like smoothness to the guitar playing that reminds me of something from "Obscured By Clouds" . The electronic drums are a nice touch and the guitar tones on this song are unreal. I think I am being generous and open minded enough to give this album a 9. I have been clear in my thoughts as to what keeps it from being their best work , but they are not just a sludge band or perhaps have expanded what you can do as one, fans of the bands will welcome this return. 

Godspeedyoublackemperor! :"G_d' Pee - AT STATE'S END!

Been a minute for these guys. You can not mention post rock or any of it's sub-genre's without mentioning these guys. Sometimes they are more song oriented than others. There is always more of a cinematic quality to what they do. Considering they did the sound track for the 30 Days Later movies, it would make sense they might feel the need to score the current events of the world.  After a few minutes of  bubbling ambiance they do kick into some along the lines of Early Pink Floyd that glides along with more of a prog rock majesty than what might first come to mind when trying to gauge your expectations with this band. 

"Fire at Static Valley" is almost more of an interlude in comparison to their normally sprawling arrangements at under seven minutes. It is moodier in the sense of atmosphere. More post rock ish than what continues to go down on "Government Came" that is more like drugged out Moody Blues. I am fine with them evolving into a more progressive rock band .  I guess depending on the scope of dynamics post-rock as a genre was half way there. I think on an album like this it is easier to see the connection. Pink Floyd had stuff that could have been the earliest post rock on  "Piper At the Gates of Dawn" so really this was the sub genre for hipsters who did not want to admit to liking the bands their stoner dads were into. In the last 8 minutes of the song it drops down really minimally almost too silence. It takes them about 3 minutes to build it back up into some almost more Hendrix like. Then the pull it all together for the last 3 minutes. 

The last song is a meager six and a half minutes. The first minute is needed for them to turn their instruments to a decent volume. This kind of thing to me feels like they are checking their volume levels before actually playing. Since I do not do the kind of drugs I used to the ambient swells does not seem as much like a fully formed song. I will give this a 9. The last song sounds good but feels too much like krautrock . If you like what they do and like prog rock from the 70s then you will like this album as well, which is why it scored so well with me. 

 

 

Ascension of the Watchers : "Apocrypha"

This post-industrial side project of Fear Factory vocalist Burton C Bell has always held potential, so lets see if it has finally arrived with this album. The guitars this time around do not just sit back in a laguid Jesu like drone. Still very seperate from Fear Factory or his other projects there still resides a Killing Joke like feel. The melody and dynamics of the song are all dialed in . Bell uses a more tender tone at times rather than his normal baritone croon. I has to listen to the second song a third time for it to sink in. This perhaps means it loses me in it's atmposphere or perhaps doesn't demand my attnetion. It's pleasant enough. I like the guitars. Bell hovers in the background with little in the way of hooks. The drumming to the title track gives it the motion that the previous song needed. The guitar is strummed and Bell has more room to play with the morose melody.

"A Wolf Interlude" doesn't grab me and once again drifts off in the atmosphere , but the album comes back stronger with "Honoree" and " Stormcrow" . The first song balances ambiance and melody. It has more of a Cocteau Twins feel musically. Then the latter works in the samw way post-rock does. Ominious and driven. The dark clouds remain for " Cygnus Aeon".  Brooding , but with a flowing sense of tension. There is a more melodic ballad like tone to "Key to the Cosmos" which gives it an almost Pink Floyd by way of dark wave feel. "Bells of Peridtion" coasts along on atmosphere that seems to float out from the previous song.

The stronger beat and more defined melody of "Wanderers" puts them on more solid footing. "Sign Your Name" is a stummed ballad with a western feel. The more organic nature is welcome in ight of the album's general tone. I will round this down to a 9, not because it's not a solid album, just some of the atmosphere makes it easy for the songs to drift away and get lost into rather than make you beg for more. Still a 9 is outstanding and finds this project really living up to the potential I have know it has all along./

Geist & the Sacred Ensemble : "Waning Hymns"

After a month of death metal, I will take some doom folk to cleanse my palate. The emphasis here might be more on doom. The vocals are low moaned baritone, that begins to make me think these guys might be a Swans tribute act in disguise. The way the vocals shift pitch is very Gira. At least his more recent work. They drone is cool. I also like how brooding this is. I love Swans . That means I have mixed emotions. I get the ritual part. That is cool for what it is. Though feels almost like they are trying too hard. Opening you album with an ll minute song is asking a lot from me. But the Swans do it you say. They earned their place showing me they can write all kinds of songs. So what we have here might be a case of sound achieved , now write a song.

I like the wavering melody summoned on the second song. Once again however the vocals are just moaning out notes . I like the fact he is using his voice as a narrative, but Micheal Gira makes it all stick. If you want to be him, you gotta make it stick. Gira knows less is more. He also know when to bring the more. With that said there is a more minimal atmosphere to "Volition". The band claims this is a study of western attention spans. From what I have read on these guys I like the social commentary they might be capable of. If we were given more lyrics to work with then perhaps we might find this coming through. The post rock vibes I am getting from this song are more enjoyable than the first song. It not that I did not like the first song . I just had a lot to sort through in regards to it. "Closed Eye" drones out and I space out.

I was listening to the last song when I looked up and it was back on the first song which was better than I remembered it being the first time. This means two things. 1 - These songs all have a similar throb to them. 2- this album has the potential to grow on me. Though it is more likely I will dry out "the Great Annihilator" when I am in the mood for this sort of thing. I will give this one an 8. It has more depth than most of the stuff out there, but if you are looking for catchy songs keep clicking.

HarborLights : "Isolation Ritual"

This album was a nice surprise. I checked out because they are on Deathwish. Deathwish is a label that has a really good track record for me, so this only reconfirmed this fact and further cemented their status.   I automatically like the vocals . They are very emotive, perhaps even dramatic. It's delicate tenor, in the direction of Thom Yorke. Musically these guys are post rock, and not afraid to step on the distortion pedal and bring some crunch. This is everything I love in music. It's moody and dynamic. They get sludgey when they go for the heavier dynamic with the vocals remaining melodic. They start off heavier on the second song. In fact more of a punk tempo. It does slow into a half time feel. They keep their instrumentals pretty interesting.

 The bass creates the tension for "Skin Walker" . They are excellent musicians but by the second instrumental I think it's a waste not to have that guy singing. From virtue rides the line between emo and show gaze with post rock tones. The vocals are more understated here.There is a heavier shoe gaze to " Year Without Summer" .  The songs are very compactly written they do not take you on any long sprawling drones. This is also a hit with me.  "Ego Ideal" finds the higher floating vocals returning. The drums do some really interesting syncopation.  Its a beautiful piece of music. Things get darker on "And Hell Followed" . Moving in a post -punk direction. This finds them in more of the direction of say Sannhet. They close out the album with a heavier tone.In the last minutes of the song, throaty yelled vocals come in. This brings out their sludge tendencies.

Less metallic than Russian Circles. They remind me more of  Explosions in the Sky, during their instrumental sections. In the last minutes of the song, throaty yelled vocals come in. This brings out their sludge tendencies.   I will give this one a 9.5 and see how it sits with me. I only rounded it down a little because I was unsure if the instrumentals would get as much airplay on my end. If you like your post rock on the side of progressive check this album out. If you like your progressive rock forward thinking and very atmospheric then check this album out. There are more reason to check this album out than not . It comes out  Friday the 13th 

Pianos Become Teeth :"Wait For Love"

There fourth albums is another picture of this band's dramatic evolution. If you go back and listen to their first album it doesn't even seem like the same band. Gone is the explosive energy and the screamed vocals. While I  think of these guys as having come from the same emo-revival that bands like Touche Amore came from, I think they should have maintained 5% of that or changed their name , as it's weird to here such refined indie rock coming from these guys. They are capable of going at it with an almost Jawbreaker like drive on "Charisma". The vocals are plaintive, but well placed. The guitar don't told much in terms of distortion and works off of a dream like jangle more often than not. Sonically  "Bitter Red" is more in the neighborhood of "Transatlanticism" Death Cab, though not as focused. The first song that is not a total bullseye so far , as it doesn't seem clear where they were trying to go. There is more of a post rock feel to the guitars of "Dry Spells" with the atmosphere they create. Plenty of room for the vocals to muse in the sprawl.

The atmosphere continues to get thicker until they sound more like rain cloud blowing by on "Bay of Dreams".  If this was another band I think they would have drifted out into past the span of the average listener's capacity to listen. There is enough movement on "Forever Sound" to keep you engaged. The riff to "Bloody Sweet" is catchy enough to hold my attention. The drumming gets more aggressive in an attempt increase the urgency. The pace picks up slightly for "Manila". The vocals stay in the same sleep walk and mellow the mood despite the best efforts of the drummer. When these guys are more focused on melody than spacing out they are at the top of their game.

They continue down a pop tinged middle road with "Love on Repeat". It sounds good, the drums anchoring them from floating away to far into the cosmos. The way the melodies are formed on the last song remind me of bands like the Gloria Record who first started marrying emo to shoe gaze and post-rock. Lyrically "Blue" might be one of the albums strongest moments. Though the drums are barely there , which have been the driving force behind this album. Despite this band turning their backs on who they used to be which might irk old fans, they are good at what they are doing and I am not that invested in their older stuff so I'll give this one an 8.5.

An Autumn For Crippled Children : "Eternal"

This band from the Netherlands keeps pumping out on a yearly basis. This time they are releasing it in lp format. the first song isn't bad and finds them doing what they do, but nothing jumps put at me, like it does on the second song which recaptures my attention. The third song brings in even more of a melodic element and shows they have been doing what Deafheaven does way before the fact. However it feels a little like Black Sabbath's "Cross Purposes" album where even though grunge would not exist without Iommi, the vocals were all in the minor third harmonies Alice In Chains used at the time. If that comparison is too much for you to get what is going on here, then you are a lost cause and should go back to sleep.

The bass and drums are totally on it from "On Fire " on. The guitar has a weird fuzzed out tone for most of the album up to this point it makes them sound almost like a synth. When the real synths come in then things get really weird and confuzzing. The vocals cry out in the same rasp they normally do. Though it's become less expansive in it's range of tortured cries and like older Deafheaven sticks to a mid range that is mixed back into the guitars.  "You Have Been in the Shadows" finds the vocals much angrier than the music around them. The post rock thing is not as obvious as it has been on other releases, yet there is no way any one in their right mind can think of these guys as a black metal band any more.

"Days of Sleep" floats on towards sightly darker clouds and a more melancholy mood. These are the best guitar melodies so far on this album. The drums sound more like they are programmed on this song, but it isn't a deal breaker. There is a lighter tone to the ambiance coating the drive of "Swallowed By Night's Despair"  The melody to "Cloud Mood" is more compelling even though it pushes them further into the more shoe gaze side. The album closes by finding the band in their more classic sonic space. I'll give this album a 7.5, it strikes me as playing it safe and almost bland. It would be nice if they got back to being a little darker like their early stuff, I could except them no longer being a black metal band if this was this case. I have accepted this for the past few albums, it's just finding them at a place where they need to rethink their direction before it leads them into stagnation. This album comes out October 17th.

Falaise : As Time Goes By"

A Sad Sadness Song is becoming one of my favorite labels as I know I can depend on them to bring me melancholy.  Their first album that released themselves is now being officially released. While this band hails from Italy their sweeping fusion of post-rock and Black metal will make you think they came from France. They songs flow together more like classical compositions with the vocals buried almost to obscurity behind the shimmering walls of soaring guitars that still manage to come across as being heavy rather than the kind of meandering in atmosphere that the bulk of bands stumble into when attempting this fusion.  The drumming to "Lost Moments" give the song a lighter indie rock feel until it collides into the blast beats. Their guitar melodies sprinkled over even the song's harshest moments and they return to to the them established at the beginning of the song.

When they lash into black metal of a purer darkness of "No Destination" , they might be plenty mean, but lose some of the songwriting smarts by dumbing it down to get heavy. This makes them sound more like every other black metal band with a little atmosphere to them. The title track finds a better balance, though it leans more towards the ambiance of their post-rock side. Here the guitar is more thoughtful and a delicate piano melody is allowed to unfold. This song drones on while other landscapes evolve around it. The song that follows feels like an extension of this song rather than a song on it's own two feet.'Pointless" holds it own as a song, though it might not be as powerful of an expression that we heard earlier in the album.

"The Lump In My Throat" gives a more energetic take on post-rock. It still ebbs and flows with a sense of dynamics, and is a pretty well written song over all, perhaps one of the album's best moments. There is a more droning rock in the post- rock throb of "Waiting Time". I like how this song shifts at the three minute mark. I'll round this album up to an 8.5, there are some solid songs and sounds on this and they find a place where metal can meet post-rock in a place that doesn't feel like Deafheaven's hand me downs.

Interview: Sannhet

I got the chance to sit down with the guys from Sannhet and we talked about various aspects of the varied sub-genres they are often attached to, along with other musings.Right off the batI hit it off with their drummer Chris who was wearing a Youth Code shirt and I was wearing a Swans shirt so we had one of those mutual admiration band shirt moments and from there we were just friends catching up

Wil -So what is it about the scene in  New York that enables the scene to pump out so much great metal?

Chris -Diversity, the space and room to be yourself, after living there for over a decade all the touristy elements fade, but it's a melting pot.

Wil -What is it that makes New York  the place where most US black metal is being pumped out? 

Chris - It can be depressing.

AJ-It's the chicken stock of the soup, you can taste it in there but there are a lot of other pieces thrown in.

John- There are not in bands that I would say are a hundred percent traditional.

Wil -the closest to that would be Mutilation Rites

John-We are friends with those guys and they don't even consider themselves black metal. There is genre bending, taking the influence. How can you be black metal in New York, you are not in Norway. Not out in Nature with  epic landscapes. There is not much else in common except we do get a lot of snow. I think Liturgy still self identifies as black metal.

Wil -I heard  Bone Thugs N Harmony was influence on their new album.

John- It's Hunter's take on rap metal and I would rather listen to his take on it than Limp Bizkit. To some extent saying your black metal raises suspicion because  then you are trying to ape your heroes. It's like the hardest question is what do you sounds like and most bands in New York just try to names a bunch of bands that they hope you have never heard before.

Wil- To bring up another genres, you guys often get called post- rock and while many post-rock bands have long sprawling songs, where you guys are much more concise and seem to place more of an emphasis on songwriting, so what is your song writing process like?

John- It's changed a lot since the first album. On the first album we were a two piece. Aj joined the band allowed us to build structures, where I used to do a lot of looping and did more of the typical post- rock thing where we would take one idea and build off of it.  Now there is more freedom.

AJ- Some times I wold just have a whole drop box of Chris just beat boxing. So now I might take an Idea and have Chris work around it.  Then we will put something else on top, the go back and edit the revised version.

John- I am more of a rock n roll, post-rock guy and Aj will alternate from writing bass lines that are hooky like post-punk, with more of a pop element, rather than my droning dirges.

AJ- So the songs take on this internal dialogue there are these different elements fighting to be heard.  On the next record we might take a different approach.

Wil -You mentioned post-punk would you say that bands like the Cure and Joy Division are an influence.

John-Yes we love Joy Division, we did a track coming out on Cvlt Nations Joy Divsion tribute comp. We got one of the lesser known songs which surprising for us is one of their more droning songs so ironically it sprawls out more than are normal songs. The more well known Joy Division songs are up beat.

 Chris- The Thing that we have in common with post- punk is there is some some beauty to it and some urgency.

Wil- In black metal aside from Darkthrone's more rock moments and say Emperor, the vocals tend to become a static layer of white noise, so the fact you are instrumental do you find that to more freeing?

John -Yeah, like you said the vocals can be a tonal. it frees up space and is less distracting without vocals. there are those types who just can't listen to anything without vocal, then there are others you get turned off to it if the screaming comes in. I think we try to fill up that space so you don't notice.

AJ- We recorded guitars for three months so if we had vocals when would have had to commit to that story . we have trouble with commitment.

John- With screaming you are pigeon holed as metal.  Then theres Deafheaven where there are people who don't normally listeN to metal that listen to them.

Wil- Do you feel your role in the band is to bring the aggression while John paints the background with more texture?

AJ -I feel like I do a lot of more poppier parts. It's  the sweet to the sour.

John - They are the architects I paint more in broad strokes , they are the scaffolding.

Chris pulls up a Youtube video of Bob Ross painting happy trees.

Wil- There's  the happy trees

AJ- Our trees tend to be more depressing.

Wil- So how do you get your bass tone?

Aj- That is one of my favorite questions ever ,  fender I need to take every thing apart and fuck with it. I got these customs pedals made by this guy Tony Balls who makes these pedals that combine the old rat pedal sound. The  full and throaty sound  comes from mesa zone , so there is that vintage bass sound with a modern eq, without which I would sound like Emmure.

John- Not sure we could ever sound like Emmure.

Wil - You would need more break downs .

John -and I don't know if could palm mute like that.

Wil - You also need to get basket ball jerseys.

 AJ- Sannhet basketball jerseys coming soon, they would  be black on black. Most bass players who want to sound better should just play with a better drummer. It's all me sticking tight to Chris.

Wil- So to bring us another genre you are often attached to...shoe gaze, how has that been an influence?

John- I was into guitar rock then shoe gaze should me what you can do. Rock is about the riffs. Shoe gaze is about the texture. In shoe gaze there is that contrast of light and dark

Chris- That's also in post-punk but with more energy.

John -Also with a band like My Bloody Valentine they can be very visceral  in terms of volume.

Wil-  I think of all the 90s trends shoe gaze deserves the come back much more than grunge. How do you feel about what bands like Nothing and Whirr are doing?

AJ- I love what Nothing does.

John- Deafheaven does it to but from a more avant garde angle. Some of these bands you can't tell if they are from 91 or 92. I like that people can hear that in use and can appreciate those references.

Wil - For me instrumental music has a cinematic feel, are movies and visual arts and influence on you?

John -It is for me.  I like movies that are moody and atmospheric. AJ brings the literal visual element to our shows. I connect to David Lynch be it the scores he does or something like the music from Twin Peaks.

Wil -On "Empty Harbor" there was a jazz like element that reminded me of Twin Peaks.

John- There is that Angelo Badalamenti tone.  Also into things like "Holy Mountain. Did you see "There Will Be Blood?" The soundtrack is like snippets of sirens and that movie is really just a character study. You just learn more about Daniel Day Lewis's character and nothing really happens.

AJ - 'Under the Skin" is another one like that. That is how we see the songs as more of a character study.

John- There is a theater in New York that once once has a night where they play a silent music and have a noise band play to it and they asked us to do one. But it would depend on if we can write something of that length to play for just one night, because we do not improv, that is just not what we do, no jamming, we have to tell a story.

Wil- What are your tour plans ?

John- We are going to do some festivals , hit out west, some short runs that make sense geographically.

AJ- We are playing NXNE, Hopscotch, the Empyrean. Glad Andy Stott asked us to play.

Wil- One thing about your label Flenser is it takes you back to the day when you could by any album by Metal Blade and you knew it would be good. I'm really into that new King Woman.

Chris- Yeah that one is good there is another one that flew under the radar last year Boduf Song's "Stench of Exist". Its dark singer songwriter.

Wil- Like King Dude?

AJ- Less Johnny Cash, more in a register normal people can sing in.

John- Yeah they are really having a great year this year.

Chris- I love Wreck & Reference.

John- But yeah it's like back in the day with Hydra Head

Wil- They put out those early Converge album that made me feel guilty and put down the bong when some one told me they were straight edge. It's like that band Mineral, I stopped listening to them when someone said they were Christian.

AJ- On some message board there was a rumor that we were christian because out name means the truth.

John- We don't have anything against religion.

AJ- I do I am against all organized religion.

John- I suppose if they were Christians then they assumed that since Jesus this their truth it must be ours. But Jesus is not our truth.

Funeral Bloom: "Petals"

Texas is becoming the new France. France was once constantly knocking out innovative new metal and now it looks like the Lone Star state is threatening to take that crown away. This Austin band reminds you of when  black gaze almost became a thing. That didn't happen as shoe gaze went on to once more  find it's own way with out the metal trappings This  band is still holding the flame that only Deafheaven really carries now that Alcest has gone the way of elf rock. Their more black metal side is looser in their attack than Deafheaven, they go into more post-punk like clean vocals at times, rather than being limited to just the harsh vocals.

"Black Shoes" opens the album with a steady post- rock beat , shimmery guitar and samples setting the mood before they launch in a seizure of blast beats. The harsh vocals are the kind of nonsensical snarl that you can't imagine actually meaning anything. The lower spoken clean vocals come in fairly early at the three minute mark of this 11 minute expansive journey of a song. The harsh vocals form more of a chant in the back ground against them. The vocals here aren't really sung, but provide and interesting if not odd counterpoint. The strength seem to be the way they smoothly transition from one passage to the next after the initial launch into the black metal which is more of an abrasive switch.

The bass is audible in this album which is a plus when it comes to black metal, though despite what labels you might read associated with the band it's no where near the kind of drive that would make this post-punk. Most songs wander a broad expanse more common with post rock."Cherry Orchard" doesn't find it's blast of black metal until three minutes in. The songs lull you in until they explode in this very temper tantrum like state of black metal countered by some beautiful passages, that help set them apart from all the other Deafheaven imitators. They might be even more convincing in the post- rock sections than they are in the black metal parts, as they seem more natural. The drumming more sure of it's self and the guitars have a better sense of melody at that pace.

 The lower post-punk vocals sing more at the end of "Cherry Orchard" and they also hold a similar Death In June like timber when the song "Lust" takes a darker turn."Lust" starts off a tranquil and minimalist as you might want your post rock, a few samples murmuring over it like a babbling brook, all is well as it builds ...until the five minute mark when it gets pounded home. The harsh vocals work best here and this is probably the album's strongest track.There is a cool break down that does actually touch on more of a post punk thing. The heavier elements are well accented instead of the more spastic thing that happens at the onset of "Naked".

 The incoherent howls clash against the trickling guitar. The drums take a swing at anything in the song that moves and the bass disappears , when it could have been the glue. That is just in the first two minutes, before the calm down and take deep breaths to pull it together. The drums excel in a section where they compliment the return to creepiness and they fall back to be tensely hesitant. The bass comes more to the forefront here as well, but you can't help but wonder if it was up in your face how much more powerfully it could carry the song.The final three minutes even hits a section that reminds me of newer screamo bands before they metal it up.

This one gets a 9 for now and we will see how it grows on me. Far from perfect in the execution of all elements in play here, but there are so many that it breezes by you. This is evident as this is one of those albums I can just leave on like the majority of Autumn For Crippled Children's catalog.  

Report to the Dance Floor: Clocks and Clouds' "Aliantha"

The first thing that strikes me about the new single by this 3 piece from Minneapolis is how very Phillip Glass the intro is as it racing your ears around in a dizzying drone. Even though the trio is comprised of just Cello, Violin and Drums, they manage to capture most things I want form music of any form be it metal, goth or post-rock. They have a dynamic ebb and flow. There is a emotional darkness and they have some ball to what they are doing.Said balls come in the way of the harsher effects they lace the beat with outside of the drum kit.

If dub-step is an ugly word to you, you might check your prejudice's at the door as the woobly robotic farts have never been put to better use. When juxtaposed against the chamber music, such tones are not left out in the open to just make you think the ghost of 2011 has left the building.The song is very precise, similar artists like Godspeedyoublackemperor would have turned this into a more indulgent and sprawling thing, but Clocks and Clouds, reins in such urges to serve the song. So the amount of songwriting awards they have won since there formation four years ago seems fitting.

The song has a lyric quality to it , so if instrumentals don't always speak you, and they some times bore me as well unless they are done right and this bands have scored well on that front. They keep my attention, not allowing themselves to just paint the background. Some of the morose melodies carry more of a classical cadence than something Mogwai might do.The builds in intensity is what retains the post- rock label here.

If you are feeling more adventurous and want more of what you heard here then check out their ep the Creation of Matter which can be found here... I get all manner of artists coming across the inner webs to me,rarely are there those who demand repeat listens like these guys have this after. So grab and glass of wine or your cigarette lighter and your you-know-what and prepare to let this project take you for a rather exotic ride.   

Agalloch @ the Earl 6/24/2014

I had high hopes for this show. The Portland based band was pretty impressive when I caught them a few years back when they were touring to support "Marrow of the Spirit". While excited to catch Agalloch again, I also have developed a keen sense for missing openers, so made it to the Earl a little after ten. This is proably survival skill set in motion by my subconscious in hopes of conserving my hearing. So Vex was just a rumble coming from the other room while my girl friend ordered food. The crowd was a good size for the venue , on par with what Agalloch drew the last time I caught them at the same venue.

They took the stage with  lead growler Jon Haughm carrying a bowl of incense to create a ritualistic feel, though this was not done with the same dark occultic intensity as what say Watain or Atriarch do. I think it was more for the bands benefit to get them into the head space to preform. The bulk of their set was from the newest album. Bringing the front man to joke they were going to play something that no one wanted to hear from the new album. However they respectfully gave the fans what they wanted with a few tunes off "Ashes Against the Grain" and "Marrow of the Spirit", leaving "Pale Folklore largely neglected.

 "So this is the future home of the zombie apocalypse" Jon quipped in his first interaction with the crowd." At least you guys get a cool show. We get Porlandia, which is almost a documentary." He later asked if we wanted to hear something from the Mantle. This brought a decent roar of approval. Jon then stated that they had never played "I am the Death of the Earth" in Atlanta before, though that fact wouldn't matter to people catching them for the first time. This song was also the only moment in the show where he attempted clean vocals. On the newer songs which have more layered growls, the other guitarist Don Anderson stepped up to the mic and lent his throat.

 Playing for almost two hours, the band kept their energy level steady. The only dips were in the more ambient portions of songs which sprawled out into the more post-rock like middle sections. Drummer Aesop Dekker, who also drums for such acts as Vhol and Ludicra played a large part in the propulsion of the songs. His preformance really stood out. The veteran drummer had his signiture precision, but tirelessly handled double bass and blast beats. He made what he did look easy , despite the thunderous sound he created.

 I have always felt lead guitarist Don Anderson is one of modern metal's most under rated guitar heroes. He once again, show cased the dexterous chops that he employs so tastefully into the context of what Agalloch does and works well with Haughm. They intertwined the sonic layers perfectlly. One reason for this also seemed to be a smart stage volume. They were loud, but also very clean tonally. Many metal bands make the mistake of cranking up their stage volume until the by product is a muddy swamp of distortion and no discernable notes. This was not the case with Agalloch, who made each guitar melody count. Anderson also took the lead when it came to the band's  stage prescene goes. He worked the stage in a manner most metal bands of their ilk would not have half the charisma to execute, without coming off as trying to hard. He seemed very natural. This left John snarling at the mic center stage. Both he and the bass player did not shy from the obligated headbanging when the dynamics called for it.

Overall they met might high expectations and continued to defy description, even with the reduction of clean vocals , the guitars compensated well when it came to melody. I would go see them again if they rolled through town next week. Though they tend to make summer jaunts due to some of the band's work schedules, so next summer it is. With that in mind make sure to catch these guys live when they roll through your town and it will embed your fandom if you have been on the fence with them in the past.

Agalloch:"The Serpent and the Sphere"

At one time these guys were one of my favorite bands, until they gave me that 20 minute "Faustian Echoes" when I wanted a new album. So here we are with "the Serpent and the Sphere " and it's ten minute opener that's pretty impressive. Agalloch have not totally veered off from their sound, it carries more of a doom sound than black metal. Though they were on the fringe of black metal with "Marrow of the Spirit".

They return to littering the album with folk interludes . Little sideways passages of acoustic guitar are a staple. "The Astral Dialogue" grabs me more than the opener. At five minutes it's pretty to the point for these guys, more mid pace, I'm fine with no blasting as it's still pretty heavy. It makes up for what it lacks in raw fury by being pretty dark. These guys always excel in their guitar playing and this song pulls out some pretty tasteful yet dexterous lines.

For Agalloch "Dark Matter Gods" is a bit straight forward . The drums coast on a more post-rock beat, though the song builds in a more Enslaved manner, or even something as moody as Katatonia could be referenced here. It's original and I can see this song growing on me. I tend to not like his whispery growl as much , which is what dominated "Marrow of the Spirit" , but this one is bravely constructed and has all the dynamic punches required to sell me on it .

There is more of a triumphant stomp similar to what newer Enslaved falls into on " Celestial Effigy" . This is not vastly different from past Agalloch, namely "Ashes Against the Grain". The vocals stick to the whispery growl and as a whole this album is very sparse on the clean vocals in fact they really only appear layered in the background of the first song. This song delivers for what they do so it is hard to argue against it as they are staying fairly consistent with what they do. They even pull out the blasties for a few minutes. The song moves you to head band with ease, but I can't help but think they are playing it a little safe.

"Vales Beyond Dimension" took a fair amount of listens to grow on me, it has a more melancholy feel to it , but the way it's arranged it kinda drifts by. But the dark melodic elements that construct it really make it one of the album's best songs when it finally clicks for you. The use of primarily harsh vocals as the focal point does make many of the songs sound the same in some ways, the guitar lines are creative enough to stand out when you really listen to them, but it you leave this album playing in the back ground it blends like one long song. Which brings us to the 12 minute instrumental that closes this album out.It sounds like they want to go into a more Russian Circles direction, with this though those elements are sprinkled throughout the album, in a similar fashion to how An Autumn For Crippled Children made the transition. The instrumental isn't a bad song , its well played and put together it just feels like it's the crescendo to another song rather than standing on it's own,

I will give this album a 9.5 as the lack of clean vocals, which I though was their strong point are absent. The folk elements are also relegated to the acoustic guitar interludes, but the arrangements are strong and the guys are good enough guitar players to make this album excel on that alone. The drumming has also stepped up a notch, so these guys are still killing it just growing away from some of the elements I once liked most about them, but growth comes in unexpected ways.

An Autumn For Crippled Children : "try not to destroy everything you love"

This mystery band from the Netherlands, released its 4th full length and it continues down the road away from Depressive Suicidal Black Metal. Though its album does not strike me a as being as post-rock as the last and a few shades darker. The Cure influence  seems to be more prominent than the Russian Circles. On the track "The Woods are on Fire" the utilize sounds that affirm their love for My Bloody Valentine, but I would not say this throws them in the same bandwagon as the other black gaze bands and shoe gaze is just one element present on this album.

They have much keener eyes for the details in the composition and take the songs in more unexpected direction rather than their old song writing formulas which was to drone one melody to its grave. Their are heavier moments on this album than we have heard from them in recent memory, "never complete" is sonically heavy and has a thick coat of sorrow to drown you in. The vocals are the most metal element of the music, but unlike the previous album their are heavy moments they just aren't metal ones.

The title track starts off with blatant electronic elements, not trying to hide the fact they are using drum machines and a very chilled out sound.The sample underneath sounds like something from a Smiths album, while most of the other elements are like 80's Cure. The screams are layered under a coat of distortion and find them selves buried under the synths. It ebbs and flows from these more post-rock guitar sections before blaring back at you in the end.

The breezy glide into the night sky on " hearts of light" is the first song that bears any similarity to their early work, though it is clear the production is coated in the shoe gaze like distortion rather than their older more metallic sound. The vocals sound like they are being screamed with more anguish than ever before as they lay under more denser layers. "Sepia Mountains For Her Lament" sounds just like the title, the drums take on a more metal feel as double bass accents the swells.

The dizzy intro to "Closer" starts off with a much different  feel than what the bands has done before, an upbeat tempo that never settles into the melancholy. In the songs final minute black metal returns in a fast and soaring manner than doesn't rely on blast beats. They dial this back for  moment in "avoiding winter" that starts off with a twinkle and begins to build in intensity through out even allowing for a electronic style break that is just one of the albums many moments that don't sound like anything they have done before.

The post -rock lead into "starlit spirits" finds the band once again in familiar territory, but after they have spoiled us so much with some of the innovation on this album it feels like a step back.I'll give this album a 9 as its an improvement from the last though the drone of the shoe gaze fuzz at times weighs it down , this is still and impressive piece of work.      

Altar of Plagues : "Teethed Glory & Injury"

Since the last Altar of Plagues album was the first review for this blog, it's like a celebration of our second annual Irish Black Metal day. Since "Mammal" these guys have really matured. They no longer write sprawling songs that all pass the ten minute mark, not to say they have done away with the drone, noise or Ambiant elects to what they do. So the rule is unless some actual music transpires I'm not counting it as a song, so we are talking some talking toward momentum here as they will play a few notes here in their to soften the sonic sting of the noise. So we are going to say that "God Alone" is the first song.

It combines a very Godflesh element with their crispy blasty mcnasties. They allow the song to collapse and the. Come back to life with a pretty mean riff. Black metal purists might resist the groove, but giving into it isn't a bad thing here. The post rock moments are still intact, they seem a little darker on this one. The clean vocal make a return appearence in the final act of the first song but attempt to a subdued chant. The mix seems way more bass heavy and the album has a more in your face boom to it.

"A Body Shrouded" smoothly slides into the song with a Russian Circles like grace under the pressure of oppression. It fluxuates from having an industrial feel and a rock feel leaving the mean snark of the vocal the only thing really black metal as the drummer sounds like he had  been taking notes from the drummer of Russian Circles.

The almost angular intro to "Burnt Year" starts a little awkwardly. Enforce they return to the black metal. The vocals takin gon more of a Mayhem like anguish to them. Chaos ensues. It ensues in a more haphazard jazz like manner than say Deathspell Omega. The momentum is lost on this one but they are at least experimenting and it comes together at the end.

A sparsely drummed chant opens " A Remedy and a Fever". The fever must be getting to them as they are very pissed until the clean vocals come in to soothe them like a ghost. I like that dynamic and it's a great use of the more melodic vocals. The industrial influence on this album is welcome but unexpected as I never heard traces of it on the last one. I mean it even gets Nine Inch Nails on this one more so than early Swans. It very dark so that wins me over . The guitar winds up and slither through the dark maze, Like roots looking for rspe in evil dead. When I say N.I.N here it's not the poppy "Closer" moments but the Ambiant sprawl with distressed edges.

"Twelve was Ruin" congeals out of the ashes of the previous song and returns to the more post rock side. The guitar takes and intresting step back to pick with more melodic intent before flexing into a stacatto pattern. The octave chords smattered with delay are nice as it soars off into a sonic cloud that rains back down on the established pattern. The lack of vocals here I think keeps it from being an outstanding song to a really cool idea leaving the screams at the end to seem like a cop out after they have done some out of the box thinking already.

The rumbling spasms that kick off "Scald Scar of Water" don't lead you to where you think you are being taken which is the theme of the album. A galloping groove storms in and builds into the dense blast. The riff morphs into a heavier cyborg. There is a sludge like element that has replaced the industrial overtones. The harsh vocals howl along with the motion. Every thing halts into just a pulse and then the clunk and bang of the electronic returning for their revenge on the post rock swell. Clean vocals drift in to haunt the back drop.

"Found , Oval and Final" is straight up industrial tinged sludgey fare that abandons it groove for the static swathes of noise and tribal convictions the drummer returns to. This does offer tension and room to breathe at the same time. I know it's a weird mix of contradictions, but these are the dynamics the have employed. The cool riff age is what makes this return , that despite all the artful leanings at the end of the day you have to rock.

The final song "Reflection Pulse Remains" returns to the Russian Circles drumming this time with a more math like guitar riff to really highlight this fact.will this open them up to a wider audience , well is post rock really stilla thing? Marketing moves aside I think they have daringly created some nic Edward textures slabs of varying degrees of heaviness. With experimentations not every step really proves the hypothesis, but the fort to branch out is there. The weird drum section I don't think makes the most sense to get to the blast beats which now seem like "oh shit wait a second aren't we supposed to be playing black metal" though there is a touch of Liturgy in the last section.

I like the direction they are headed in and I will round this up to a 9, which will go on record as the highest score you can get when so blatantly winking at the band you are taking inspiration from. Otherwise the industrial touches help the mood, could they rein it in a little sure but the songs still hold hold even in light of some of the more indulgent sections.

An Autumn For Crippled Children: Only the Ocean Knows

So this is what happens when the whole post- rock shoe gaze black metal thing wanders out into the black yonder. Not only is this not black metal but it's almost not metal and the harsh vocals are apologetically mixed behind the swell of guitar. Did I come on to strong because none of these things are bad as much as I loved the last album, people change and artists progress. The band is still making interesting music just move out of the way to avoid lighting if the say this is our heaviest album yet.

The opening number sounds like Explosions in the Sky if the caught rabies. The song has enough movement and double bass, the most metal element present to avoid losing you in its drone. Gone are the very Cureish guitar parts, they are going for almost an A Place to Bury strangers attack.

"Yes, I know...love and death...always" start with a wall of fuzz on the guitar, and not in a stoner rock way it seems to be more of a production choice, based on the ebb and flow from the break down which uses a tone more typical for them, this song builds in intensity for sure and gets sonically heavy but not metal despite the wretched vocals being screamed down the hallway.

"This garden these trees" is murky shoe gaze affair the firt verse portion almost doesn't seem to have form except for the drums trying to make sense of it all and the bassist who is excellent for this style of music seem to be dog paddling in a whirlpool here. This is one of those I'm going to have to give multiple listens and see if it takes.

"in february" is a slower piece of melancholy, that builds into a heavier dynamic keeping the same pace allowing the vocals to set the intensity. They are masked behind a cloak of distortion, not varying much in pitch or agony level. This loud to soft thing is nothing new but works for this song.

The title track starts in a languid My Bloody Valentine sway, the brief keyboard wash is a cue for the predictable distortion to come in with screaming in tow.the bass punching punching under neath the subtle transition is a smart touch, since it's not my first rodeo with shoe gaze there are no surprises for me, though I would like to know if they are stil programming the drums, I like the obviously programmed that come in at the third break downand the piano part floating in a nice touch, a lot of attention to detail on this song.

"the first snow this year" has a sweet heroin shimmer not unlike something Sigur Rios do , until of course the streams and distortion come to melt the snow, fitting as this song has a feel of ice dripping for me. The tremolo picked part is subtle and not black metal but more Explosions in the Sky, in fact not a lot of metal could be referenced to this album.it more like they have taken a couple of metal elements primarily the vocals and some of the drum patterns and applied them to post rock rather than being a metal band who incorporates post rock elements.

"uncureable" starts with a bass line and delayed guitar and conceals into a very Slowdive drive on the verse. It struck me on this one that this is going to be the best post rock album that indie are going to miss out on this year. These guys have adopted perfect mastery of this style rather than dabbling in it. The melody that rises out of the final minute of this one is really cool and should be played I hipster coffee shops everywhere.

This bassist is basically the shit is what I'm thinking once it gets to "the rising tide" the vocal approach by the last song seems a little tired but due to the production it comes across more like layer of static you tune out. They snarl they slur into once the song kicks back in, is the only distinct trait I seem them having on the song s opposed to the rest of the album. By design they are recorded to ignore making this an easy fact to overlook unless you key in on them and they might be deal breaker for some despite the awesome dynamic build on this song.

So I can go ahead and score this one pretty, easy and avoid trying to sell myself on the whirlpool song,if this winds up on my top ten list it won't be on the metal list, while excellent in execution and the growth away from metal is handled respectably enough there are still some elements from their previous sounds I wish had been incorporated here rather than throwing the baby out with the bath water, so for this reason it gets rounded down to an 8.5, nothing to be ashamed of and worth a listen but I hope for them to bring back there more dismal side.

Blut Aus Nord: Cosmosophy

One of the things we have loved about these French maniacs is the fact they are so experimental which has set them apart from other black metal bands, so what are we going think now their newest album finds them experimenting beyond the realms of black metal? This is the kind of change I'm fine because it is still yielding good music, it is darker and more ominous, the sense of Moros is conveyed more in the way of a doom metal band and the elephant in the room is going to be the clean vocals ,which I feel are not taking the easy way out and trying to sound like Enslaved , OPeth or ALcest much less any other number of extreme bands who have evolved out of the guttural screams.

Let's be honest as much as I love black metal , the wretched vocals give you a limited arensal to chose from. If you want to remain a metal, something OPeth did not want to do then there is an effective way to make this transition, if you would like an example I think I can offer this album as a fine example. They continue to do the weird here of naming their songs epitomes with aromas numeral following , so I'm just going to call the songs in the number they appear rather than what epitome they are.

The album gets a strong start with some really mournful guitar playing, it takes on an almost Jesu like feel.

The second song has a weird almost industrial intro somewhere in between Laibach and Skinny Puppy if Tricky got high and stumbled into the studio and started rapping in French and then busts into this big epic Borknagar type chords which was a little awkward and not the most effective use of an epitome

The vocals on the third song remind me of Robert Smith in their inflection and maybe the songs has a heavier cure sound if you mixed disintegration with pornography era Cure, but going through the Blut Aus Nord filter. If I played this song for my guitarist whose a huge cure fan I would instantly win him over , the song doesn't just goth out it builds into a very apocalyptic climax though in more of post rock sonic sense and not crushing metal.

There is a dsbm feel hovering around the album, the keyboard melody accents this a the cure influence continues to spill over into the fourth epitome. The single note guitar melodies make the Robert Smith worship apparent to my years but their is still an intangible retention of their defining sound, despite the vocal winks. to say its going into the shoe gazer territory would be accurate if not redundant considering what sort of influence the cure had on that scene as well.

The closing epitome drones on a melody closer in tone to some of the other 777 period stuff for the first five mins when it starts to ebb into a breakdown shimmer, while I like what is going is eleven minutes of this one riff going to last very long on my iPod, I could see a piece like this going on a bdsm playlist, the way the almost industrial drum hits it sounds like it would be good music to whip some one to. In this songs finals four minutes it fades into a bubbling bass note, where a flute like whine echoes the melody. But is this a good piece of music if we are taking it in the context
of an Ummagumma like experimentation yes

So this album over all is a mixed bag the moments that are good reach into the realms of really awesome, the second epitome I had to go back and relisten to in order to appreciate what they were doing but the transition still could have been more wisely
bridged. This is a weird album even for Blut Aus Nord but with these guys it is meant in the best way possible , though I enjoy the addition of the clean vocals I think if they went anymore melodic in the future it would look the ominous feel they are best at. So this album gets and eight mainly due to the transition on the second song ruins it for
me.But they do manage to redeem that slip with pretty stunning moments.

Live review: Chelsea Wolfe

There was a decent crowd when Marriages took the stage at 9:30 but not what I expected after friends told me people were being turned away at the door because it was sold out. Marriages took the crowd by surprise, though having Russian Circles drummer Dave Turncrantz sitting in with them was an added bonus to sway things in their favor.

Every aspect of what they did was draped in chorus and delay, lending to more of a shoe gazey sound though , the bass player would go into more intricate math rock patterns at time which bubbled under the murk. Not only was singer guitarist Emma Rundle easy on the eye but her hushed croon set urgently onto top of her twinkling fret board work.

While they never hit on what would be considered metal, they exhibited a powerful grasp of surreal dynamics and musicianship which kept up with the guest guest drummer to win the crowd over.

The dark undertones of what Marriages set,  the blackness of night rolled in with Chelsea Wolfe.  Clad in a black and white ritual robe, her band rumbled into with the opening strains that nodded to black metal before the ebbed back into  "movie screen"  Wolfe used vocal looped vocal delay to sing around her self as the rest of the band employed slides and well tempered space did recreate the almost Portishead like vibe.

From their she used her  desperate alto to weave a spellbinding web of gloom to the proceedings. Her music feels heavy in the sise  ay a doom band might but with out actually delving into metal. Midway into her set she preformed three new songs all of which carried a similar brooding intensity to her older material.Her band served the songs at all times, her guitarist handled the single note melodies, while she took the chords. her drummer was minimal and loose though kept the tension as needed and the keyboardist who doubled as a bassist  seemed to mix and modulate varied effected washes of ambiance rather than play and actual notes or melodies and his bass playing was mainly accenting then kick drum.

One thing the middle portion of the show left me wondering was how the new songs which were played electric were going to translate over as acoustic numbers since the new album coming out this fall is going to be acoustic with string accompaniment. I even went into the show wondering if it was just going to be her with an acoustic guitar, like what I saw from theat glass room session. Granted it was a smart move on her part to present the songs as she did and the magnifying glass I had out from my anticipation were met in full.

The down trodden esoteric nature of what she does translates live like a bar band in a David lynch film, so I think she bewitched the crowd in but her sound which has been branded as doom folk by some is a different taste of catharsis than what your average rock show goer might expect. She is so captivating that her performance couldn't be denied.

 Russian circles took the stage with the ambiance fanfare of Ambiant noise and proceeded to launch into their more driving material, most of their stage prescience lay in the bassist Brian Cook ,who was the only member up front in the crowds face, the few turns they took into the more Ambiant paths were not left to linger on their own for long.

 Their live shows make clear the build of the riff is there bread and butter as they have a fairly simple structure of their songs, they never dip into anything  complex or necessarily progressive, in the sense of say rush or Mastodon's older material, but they transition well and when played as loud as they were preformed Tuesday night the results were rewarding.

Before the first band played I overheard  a conversation about the purchase of ear plugs and how they were being given away at the merch both, and I have to say this caused me to expect them to be much louder than they were, they came no where close as being as loud as some one like Swans or Zoroaster. The mix as it stood allowed for nuance and dynamics, it was loud enough to get the point across when they congealed into the Tool like moments where they came together in tight syncopation to stomp climatic chords home.

Given the nature of the two openers who had provided enough atmosphere for one show, thhe set was built around the heavier numbers from Geneva" and "Empros" a wise choice as the crowd was very responsive and heads bobbed in time through out their set. I can say their performance made me want to load the new one back into the iPod and give it another listen, so mission accomplished.