YEAR OF NO LIGHT - AUSSERWELT [2010]

I know people shit themselves at the mere mention of Pelican and Isis. I know that the release of their recordings throw skinny metalheads into a frenzy of Beatles-like proportions. Or well, for underground metal standards anyway. Those two American groups have managed to stir quite the pot of beans. They have been cooking it slowly and even though in hindsight, it may seem like their best recording’s are already way behind, their momentum has never ceased. I have been largely unaffected by either. A few years ago I saw Isis live. They were as much fun as watching people paint a mansion white. Surely, theirs is the deep kind of music, the one that emerges slowly and that requires certain degree of contribution from the listener, but to me, openers These Arms Are Snakes were truly vibrant and stole the show.

 

There are other foreign counterparts that make music with the same flavor and with similar potency and that don’t get the same recognition. A few years ago Gallic nutsos Year of No Light released a gorgeous record titled Nord. It got a bunch of good reviews and that was that. Since, they’ve had four splits with fairly unknown bands and a live album, none of which have received much coverage. Ausserwelt is only their second full length of original material and it features a black and white photo of a tiny island for a cover.

 

I mention that because as I listen to Ausserwelt I can’t stop thinking about maritime motifs. I shit you not, this is like music for whales or dolphins. This is metal as interpreted by Flipper or Shamu. Ausserwelt shall be a soundtrack for one of those Natural Geographic documentaries about unscrupulous fishermen, or it should have been used as a curtain close to the award winning documentary The Cove. Year of No Light don’t play metal, they make natural post rock, dramatic after metal. The dude in charge of the electronics, keyboards, etc, especially him, is elsewhere, like dolphins, he clicks, whistles and bursts.

 

There are four songs in this record. They are all cut from the same cloth. And they all spend their combined 48 minutes apparently building momentum; Neur-Isis drums (read tribal and metal) sustaining the whole thing and never arriving to a steady beat. Meanwhile layers of prepotence offer distortion in minor measure to ethereal wail-like sounds that surmount to the call of the wild. Ausserwelt sounds like great soundtrack music, it sounds awesome when it doesn’t take center stage nor requires our full attention. But in the foreground and as a whole, one comes to notice that it builds to no end, and like a joke with no punchline, it never delivers.

deafsparrow.com
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ROSETTA - A DETERMINISM OF MORALITY [2010]

Somewhere around a year ago, Rosetta posted the following on their MySpace blog:

'Tonight at practice we had this collective epiphany where we threw off the shackles of the whole "post-metal" thing and decided that WE'RE DONE WITH 105 BPM. BRING ON 150 BPM! So we wrote our ENTIRE NEXT RECORD in an hour, and it's the fastest, craziest, kick-in-the-nuts thing since 1999.'

Underneath the facetiousness is some real frustration. Rosetta have always been uncomfortable being branded as a 'post-metal' group, to the point where the Genre section on their Facebook page currently reads 'Anything put "post"'. To be fair, their debut The Galilean Satellites bears more than a passing resemblance to the NeurISIS sound. Rosetta, however, have always been a staunchly DIY band and so the similarities to that genre are far more aesthetic than ideological.

This frustration seems to be the driving force behind A Determinism of Morality (ADOM from here on), Rosetta's third full-length and a real stylistic evolution. Far from being written in an hour, ADOM feels like a meticulously crafted piece of work that takes all of Rosetta's best qualities and shifts them towards a faster, more streamlined aesthetic. ADOM takes far more cues from post-hardcore acts such as Gospel and Frodus than it does from post-rock or metal, adopting techniques like gang vocals ("Revolve"), stop-start dynamics ("Ayil") and fast, ballsy riffs ("Renew"). But ADOM isn't just a "kick-in-the-nuts" either. Each song hosts some of the most beautiful and delicate moments of the band's career to date. As Wake/Lift did to a lesser extent, ADOM almost completely eschews traditional post-rock build-ups in favour of a more dynamically consistent approach to structure.

Instead of easing us in to the evolved sound, ADOM begins with its fastest, most jarring track. Much like Wake/Lift's opener "Red in Tooth and Claw", "Ayil" is a demonstration of the group's mastery of dynamics and full of anthemic, fist-in-the-air moments. Vocalist Mike Armine delivers one of his most intense performances to date underneath the song's galloping drumming and noodle-y guitar work. Indeed, all of the band members seem to have improved their playing both in technique and diversity. Drummer B.J. McMurtie's playing on previous releases was fancy and dynamically tasteful, but on ADOM he also proves he can rock the **** out with the best of them. Dave Grossman has always taken a solid, meat-and-potatoes approach to his bass playing (the perfect complement to Matt Weed's noisy, all-over-the-place guitar) and ADOM sees him becoming more adept, taking a more active and melodic role. Matt Weed's guitar is perhaps the thing that most sets Rosetta apart from their peers and his techniques are improved considerably here, like with the noisy stop-start riffing at the end of "Ayil" or the tasteful tapping at the end of "Renew". Weed's playing, however, moves away even further from being solely riff-based and sees him combining brutal, tight metal riffs with heavily delayed ambience that finds its niche equally in soft moments and in heavy ones.

"Ayil" is almost hardcore in its structure, riffing, and speed while still retaining the ambience and atmosphere that is crucial to the Rosetta sound. The rest of the album is equally straight-forward. "Je N'en Connais Pas la Fin", one of the best songs in the band's career so far, starts with a straight beat until vocals burst in and then gradually gets heavier until the song ends. The song avoids cliche by staying loud the entire time with guitar parts shifting from picked riffs to start-stop powerchords to spacey lead lines to tremolo picking and finally to chugging, Meshuggah-esque riffing. "Revolve", another highlight, follows a similar structure and employs gang vocals in conjunction to pretty, shimmery riffing to create one of the album's most emotionally poignant moments. "Blue Day For Croatoa" is the lone exception to the straight-forward approach of the rest of the album, being a short ambient piece in the vein of "(Temet Nosce)". Almost all ADOM's tracks stay below the seven minute mark and it's perhaps fitting that the one that exceeds it is the album closer. "A Determinism of Morality" clocks in at almost eleven minutes, not a second of which is wasted. The album version is improved in every way from the demo version that has been floating around the internet for about six months now. The drumming is more crisp and dynamic, the guitars are more clear and defined and the vocals are even more in-your-face. As a demo, the song was already one of the best Rosetta tracks to date. Now, fully realised, in all its glory with added gang vocals, "A Determinism of Morality" is a defining song that condenses everything great about Rosetta into a single track.

For me, what makes Rosetta a great band is their ability to combine all of their instrumental tricks and techniques, their tightness as a band, and their fondness for major-key prettiness into big, loud, expansive, heavy pieces. Their music in its final form becomes a wholly visceral experience because of the meticulous forethought that goes into it. ADOM adds dimensions to that sound, making it hit even harder on a gut-level but also crafting it into a more dense, thoughtful experience. In its brevity and evolution, ADOM is Rosetta's best work to date.

sputnikmusic.com

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BATTLE OF MICE - A DAY OF NIGHTS [2006]

"It isn't very often that a team-up involving members of two distinct bands works out in the way that Battle of Mice's A Day of Nights does. That is to say that the gazier aspects of guitarist Josh Graham's Red Sparowes and the sheer intensity that Julie Christmas brings to her band, Made Out of Babies, come together without having to make sacrifices on either end. The music on A Day of Nights is sometimes dreamy, at other times coarse, and still other times intrusive and uncomfortable. What really sticks in the listener's ear with A Day of Nights -- at least in the general sense -- is that this album feels like it was constructed in a cave. It's tight, cramped, and screaming within a breath's distance of one's face. And yet, it's a huge-sounding record, powerful, layered, and dense. Christmas is the star here (as she is in most appearances on disc), her voice moving from wailing banshee to precious-sweetheart-stalker on the verge of a breakdown and back at the drop of a hat. For Graham, whose band can be as heavy but lacks (perhaps due to their lack of a vocalist) the intensity that Christmas provides to her band, this is his (and the rest of the players, whose ranks include Tony Maimone) moment to break from the collective-like sound of Red Sparowes and explore a tougher, more pummeling style of song structure. Tracks like "Bones in the Water" and "Wrapped in Plain" are undeniably heavy and intense, almost churning between tension and release, but the heaviest moments on the record -- and most disturbing by a long shot -- are at the end of "At the Base of the Giant's Throat" (the band will not discuss this section, by the way): a 911 call of a woman being either beaten or worse while the phone keeps listening. To call parts of this record harrowing would be spot-on, but it can also be delicate, heavy, precious, and dreamlike. No mean feat, really. A Day of Nights is a perfect example of pushing the confines of metal and rock aside and really letting go. An amazing piece of work, hands down." AMG

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SHELS - SEA OF THE DYING DHOW [2007]

"Formed by former Mahumodo front man Mehdi Safa and drummer Tom Harriman, based in the United Kingdom and in California, *shels (sometimes referred to as Shels) self-released their debut album ‘Sea of the Dying Dhow’ on June 18, 2007 on their own imprint (*)shelsmusic.
Showcasing progressive, cinematic soundscapes and raw brutality, *shels’ live lineup has featured members of Eden Maine, Mahumodo, and Fireapple Red.
*shels was formed in 2004 following the split of Mehdi Safa’s former band Mahumodo. While some of his former band mates went on to form Devil Sold His Soul, Mehdi (born in America of Lebanese and Iranian parents) relocated to Los Angeles. There he wrote the music that has created *shels.
*shels released “Laurentian’s Atoll” in December of 2007 again to acclaim from the press.
Plans are already being started for a UK tour in the summer of 2009, along with a US tour before the new album “Plains Of The Purple Buffalo” is unleashed later in the year." LAST.FM

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PELICAN - AUSTRALASIA / THE FIRE IN OUR THROATS WILL BECKON THE THAW [2003 / 2005]

"The secretive instrumental art metal outfit Pelican was formed in Chicago by guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Lebec, with bassist Larry Herweg and his sibling drummer, Bryan. Owing a great debt to pioneering forefathers Neurosis and often compared to Boston's nearly as influential Isis (minus the vocals, naturally), Pelican coincidentally also found a home at Isis mastermind Aaron Turner's Hydra Head Records. After making their debut with an eponymous four-song EP in 2003, Pelican expanded their epic, otherworldly trance-metal to continent-sized movements with 2003's critically acclaimed Australasia album and followed it with 2004's The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. After nonstop touring, playing in clubs, small halls, and mammoth festivals, the quartet took a much-deserved break. They returned to the studio in 2006 and released City of Echoes in June 2007, followed by the live CD/DVD After the Ceiling Cracked later that December." AMG

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PELICAN - WHAT WE ALL COME TO NEED [2009]

"Rising from the ashes of the band Tusk, the instrumental post-metal outfit Pelican formed in Chicago, 2001, by guitarists Trevor de Brauw and Laurent Lebec with sibling rhythm section Larry Herweg and Bryan Herweg (drums and bass, respectively).
Owing a great debt to pioneering forefathers Neurosis, and often compared to Boston’s Isis, and Sweden’s Cult of Luna, Pelican were initially signed to Hydra Head Records (whose head, Aaron Turner, is a member of Isis).
After making their debut with an eponymous self-titled four-song EP “Pelican” in 2003, Pelican expanded their sound with 2004’s critically acclaimed “Australasia”. In 2005 Pelican released the “March Into the Sea” EP (featuring the original 20 minutes version), followed by, arguably, their most accomplished record to date, “The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw”. “City Of Echoes” was released June 5th, 2007.
In 2009 the band signed with Southern Lord Records in preparation for the release of their fourth full album" LAST.FM

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BURIED AT SEA - MIGRATION [2003]

"Chicago based Buried At Sea were a sludge and doom metal outfit that was signed to legendary post metal sludge and doom label Neurot. Their first release, a 2002 demo, was followed by their full length debut, Migration in 2003. The band, bringing sounds and influences from such earlier bands as Wickerman and Behold! The Living Corpse, included Jason Depew on guitars, Sanford Parker on guitar and vocals, Brian Sowell on bass and vocals, and drummer Bill Daniel. 2004 saw the release of the EP She Lived For Others But Died For Us. In 2007, Buried At Sea released another EP, the critically well-received Ghost." AMG

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NEUROSIS - TIME OF GRACE [1999]

"Formed in Oakland, CA in late 1985, Neurosis developed a style blending industrial, heavy metal, and alternative rock with often spiritually focused lyrics. Members Steve Von Till (guitar, vocals, percussion), Dave Edwardson (bass, vocals), Scott Kelly (bass, vocals), Jason Roeder (drums), Noah Landis (keyboards, samples, tape effects), and Pete Inc. (visuals) debuted in 1987 with the album Pain of Mind, but it took nearly five years for any follow-up to be released. Both Souls at Zero and The Word as Law appeared in 1992, followed by Enemy of the Sun a year later. 1996's Through Silver in Blood became the band's most popular release, and 1999's Steve Albini-produced Times of Grace helped build upon that breakthrough. Sovereign followed a year later. 2001's Sun That Never Sets stuck with more tribal-like beats and composition. " AMG

SIMILAR/RELATED: NEUROSIS&JAROBE, CULT OF LUNA, ISIS, MINSK, A STORM OF LIGHT, OLD MAN GLOOM, ROSETTA

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ISIS - OCEANIC/PANOPTICON [2002/2004]

"Although rooted heavy metal and the punk/hardcore aesthetic, Isis' music relies just as heavily on ambience, atmosphere, and tone as it does complexity and aggression. Not so much a band per se as a musical collective, the members of the Boston-based quintet layer their compositions with feedback, power chords, quiet/loud dynamics, and vocals that are sometimes shouted, frequently screamed, and occasionally sung. The band was formed by Hydra Head Records owner Aaron Turner, who was hoping to combine the minimalism of Earth and the Melvins with the experimentalism of Godflesh, backed by the depth and power of the band's most obvious musical counterpart, Neurosis. It was the union of Turner with bassist ..." AMG

SIMILAR/RELATED: CULT OF LUNA, NEUROSIS, PELICAN, ROSETTA, CALLISTO, RED SPAROWES, MINSK

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