Rivers of Nihil – The Work (2021)

Rivers of Nihil were one of the American technical death metal bands that seemed to be a direct response to the tech death bands from before (the early 2000s to 2010) switching gears from more traditional death metal or metalcore to space themes and ambient moments, such as The Faceless and Obscura. Those bands in turn made their change in response to the originators of tech death changing to more philosophical themes such as Cynic and Atheist. And around this time, it wasn’t just death metal, but Prog as well, as Devin Townsend and Opeth finding their softer sides. So with this line of bands following each other footsteps, was it surprising that Rivers of Nihil would change from their tradition death metal to incorporating psychedelic elements on 2018’s Owls Know My Name?

The simple answer is no. By then, saxophone had well found it’s way into tech death, including on albums by The Faceless. But aside from what some might dismiss as a gimmick, the songwriting on that album was absolutely solid, and it was a joy of an album to explore. Their follow-up however, surprised even me, not only how good it was, but also how much ground they explore and territory they masterfully cover. Let’s dig in to 2021’s The Work.

Between the release of their of previous album, three major things (that I know of) happened for the band:

1. The release of Owls helped the band get to a point where they could tour for a living.

2. The success of Owls created a pressure for the band’s follow up, something they had not experienced at this kind of level before.

3. The COVID 19 Pandemic put all of that to a halt, much like it did for the rest of the world.

These newfound experiences put the idea of “work” into context for the band, something they explore thoroughly over the course of this 64+ minute record. Without going too much into the concept, it’s not just the actual work we go to in order to support ourselves and our families, but the work our body does everyday to keep us alive, the work we put into relationships, all the work that goes on in our world and in ourselves every second of every day. The band chooses to start this album on a theatrical note. The soft opening is not surprising, and it brings up memories of Autotheism by The Faceless. But what it lacks in memorability as opposed to that one, it makes up for setting the stage for this dramatic endeavor. The subtle change from major to minor key, the background vocals, and train like sound effects all help the song build up to a huge climax. The song comes back down, only to go straight into………

The huge and heavy riffs of “Dreaming Black Clockwork”. This song is equal parts djent from Meshuggah, industrial elements and vocals like Devin Townsend, and “black jazz” like the band Shining, thanks to the comping style of the saxophone. It has a soft and mysterious middle section that only returns to the heavy riffs. This is a great introductory track to the mechanical tones of this album in comparison to their previous ones. It also shows how the band break away from the saxophone as a soloing instrument, and instead as a flowing and continuous part of the ambiance of the album.

If the previous song reminded me of Devin Townsend at his heavier moments, “Wait” reminds me of some of his more tender moments. It is an odd follow up to have a softer song immediately after the previous one, but I think that jarring transition is exactly what the band was going for. After some screams in the middle and a classic rock climax with a bluesy solo, and transitions into the darker “Focus”. I love the dynamics in this song, from the bass heavy verse, to the middle eastern sounding guitar riff of the chorus.

“Clean” has some memorable heavy riffs and screamed vocal lines, but the star of the show is a psychedelic synth solo and bluesy guitar solo that comes perfectly in the middle of it all.“The Void From Which No Sound Comes” combines the industrial and ambient elements of “Focus” with a massive chorus and a perfectly executed saxophone solo. “MORE?” Is the most aggressive song on the album musically, lyrically, and vocally, and it interestingly transitions to a reprise of the intro track, appropriately named “Tower 2”.

“Episode” starts off like doom metal you’d expect from the band Swallow the Sun, and is greatly contrasted with its heavy parts that sound more like the band Behemoth. It has a few masterful guitar solos as well as an emotional climax with the repeated lyrics “Do the Work”. They close the album out with a pair of epic tracks. The first is the gorgeous 7 minutes ballad “Maybe One Day” which is simultaneously hopeful and questioning, climaxing with a slide guitar solo and the repeated lyrics “Is this the only way?”. The last song is the progressive metal masterpiece “Terrestria IV: Work” which weaves through so many twists and turns, finally culminating with our familiar lyric, “Do the work”.

Overall, some transitions from heavy songs to soft songs may be questionable, but they were definitely the intent of the band nonetheless. It with everything else on this album meticulously crafted, it would be hard to imagine that wasn’t the case. Still, it is a small gripe if I had to choose gripes. The album is an incredible experience from start to finish. Every song has merit and memorable sequences. I may have gotten around to this album late, but it has been one of my favorite recent experiences, and I would highly recommend it to any fan of metal, Prog, tech death, or even jazz, as it will surely be one of those albums that bridges the gap for listeners who are typically not into extreme metal, much like Cynic and Meshuggah have done.

Cult of Luna – The Long Road North (2022)

Cult of Luna by the time of this release had already established themselves as one of the “big three” of Post Metal alongside legendary bands Isis and Neurosis. They are known for their consistency and forward thinking approach. For me, they had already been a part of two of my favorite albums of all time, with Vertikal and Mariner (alongside American vocalist Julie Christmas). But their previous albums were no slouch either.

Following those two albums couldn’t have been easy, and I may have been tough on reviewing the follow up, 2019’s A Dawn to Fear and the companion EP, 2021’s The Raging River, which both did grow on me with repeated listens. But sometimes the biggest problem with ambient types of music is that it can get lost in the ambience, and forget about the song at its core. This is not the case with the shorter songs with clean vocals the band has every release for some time now, but some of the longer songs that have great riffs, but ultimately sound very similar.

Following quickly after those two releases, I hoped that this one would have a little more diversity, and while that’s not exactly what I found, I did connect with it a bit faster than with the previous two releases.

First and foremost, the album name, track listing, and album art are quintessential Cult of Luna atmosphere, so much so that you can’t believe it already hadn’t happened. For a band who has traveled musically and lyrically through countryside, cities, and even space, a journey through snow and barren lands is the perfect setting for their cold, dark, moody feel.

“Cold Burn” opens the album much like “The Silent Man” did for A Dawn to Fear and “Three Bridges” for The Raging River. It’s a driving song with brief melodic moments. But what they brilliantly do here is lull you into a false sense of security. When “The Silver Arc” comes in right after with a similar sense of urgency, you think it’s gonna be more of the same. But when it’s beautiful droning middle section complete with a bright bass tone you would hear on a record by The Cure or Tool appears, it hypnotizes you.

“Beyond I” the first surprise of the album comes at the perfect time. I shouldn’t say surprise since soft songs on their album are becoming expected, as well as guest vocalists, but they are what I look forward to since they provide so much needed contrast. Mariam Wallentin’s voice is haunting on this keyboard driven track with no drums. It reminds me of AA Williams, especially on her split with Mono. The band intelligently follow this up with the slow building “An Offering to the Wind”. With the tension and atmosphere of a Western film, the flow of the album starts to take shape, with its peaks and valleys mimicking the very landscape it describes.

After it’s epic climax, the album brings itself down again with the ballad “Into the Night”. Whereas “Beyond I” was more electronic and industrial driven, this one continues the country and western feel the band started on the previous track. It starts slow and brooding, building half way in to a full band ballad, with very unusual chord progressions. It reminds me of Radiohead almost, due to a mellotron keyboard tone, and a crooning vocal style. It is a different style for the band. Very ambient, and it shows their continued confidence in the variety of clean vocals. And while the sporadic appearances on these track listings don’t signify a complete change, this middle dip of forward thinking songs bookended by the heavier, driving tracks is what gives this album its wonderful and consistent flow.

Continuing with this thought process, the band does not just randomly pick it back up with immediate heaviness and urgency. They slowly build it up once more time with the short instrumental “Full Moon”, a beautiful blend of the country and western feel of the last two songs, with the electronic/industrial keyboard heavy tones of “Beyond I” all mixed together. The subtle changes of tone yet constant flashbacks to past themes gives this album cohesion, and flows perfect into “The Long Road Home”, which starts with some incredible slide guitar work.

Eventually the title track brings that intensity felt on the first two songs. The band really take their time on this album, in the best possible way. The title track is filled with fantastic dynamics and the production really shines on this one as you hear layering that simultaneously make you think of the cityscapes of Vertikal, the space of Mariner, and the countryside of Somewhere Along the Highway. Aside from obvious post metal references, bands and projects like Agalloch, NIN, Author and Punisher also come to mind.

“Blood Upon the Stone” the last real song and second longest song, acts as an epic closer, and doesn’t take as long as “An Offering to the Wild” to get going. Using the momentum from the previous track, it gets right into it. The extended middle section with delayed guitars, consistent drumming and subtle keyboard tones turns into an explosion of dissonant and post rock goodness. The vocals return over a repeated melody a builds to an incredible climax worthy of finishing off this group of songs. But Cult of Luna don’t leave you hanging.

The album officially closes with “Beyond II”, which is an ambient piece of drone, classical, and industrial, all mixed together. It was created alongside Colin Stetson who also helped provide soundscapes on “An Offering to the Wild”. Normally I’m not the biggest fan of instrumental ambient noise closing out an album. But after such a massive track and complete journey, I can see the need for it here. It eventually fades out, and leaves you ready to re-experience it all.

It’s always hard for a band to live up to a fan favorite. And while Cult of Luna might be in the fortunate position to not have one distinct one, they have certainly created a mountain for themselves to climb over on each new release. But the band gives off the impression that they don’t care… in the sense that they have nothing to prove, and aren’t making albums for anyone in particular. They do what they want to. Some aspects of that are new, some are what they do best. But they’re not going to completely change over night for new fans, nor are they going to stay the same for the old ones. And each new release has something new to give, but it will always sound like Cult of Luna. It’s up to you how much you want to invest in finding the differences. But don’t expect to write it off entirely as just another new album by them.

Kowloon Walled City – Piecework (2021)

Kowloon Walled City blew me away when I saw them two nights in a row. Once at a small dive bar in Long Beach. The next in front of about 1,000 people opening for Neurosis. In both shows, their demeanor was almost identical. They are a very unassuming band. But this simplicity is also part of their brilliance. I wrote a review of their previous release Grievances. And when it came time to write a new review for one of their albums, I was shocked that it had been 6 years. A very quiet six years, with scattered shows.

This silence was in part to an uncertainty of the band’s future, which tends to happen when your main songwriter has writer’s block. And with the release coming when it did, it is possible to assume that the pandemic/lockdown could have played the role of the muse, like it did for so many others. If that is the case, I wouldn’t know. Because unlike many bands who came back flashy, swinging, inspired to try a new sound…. Kowloon came back exactly as before.

This new release contains 7 songs that could have been on either of their previous two albums. No clean vocals added, or female vocals…. No crazy times or song structures….no blatant song lyrics calling out specific people or events. It was as if everything we had been through in life had never happened. Just like it didn’t matter to them whether they played in front of 10 people or 1,000. They give you their sound. And that’s not such a bad thing.

In my previous review I explained what makes their sound so unique. Punk sensibility with a sludge/doom/post metal (whatever you want to call it) sound. No crazy light shows or song lengths. No endless tunnels of reverb and delay. And yet, despite their simple arrangements (2 guitars and bass playing slightly different things at the same time, they way Slint did on Spiderland), it is there unique use of space between notes that creates the atmosphere. Even though all the instruments are dry, you still feel like you could be falling as you wait for the next hit.

The title tracks opens by trudging along, as if the chugging were to mimic the lyrics of just passing through life (I don’t have the lyrics written down anywhere so my interpretations could be flawed). Though after a minute, it quickly rushes you to your first bit of soft guitars, a dynamic that despite how often it gets used, never overstays its welcome. Dynamics are after all what this band is all about. That if anything, is their only flex.

“Utopia” is a darker tune with its incredible bass tone, apocalyptic/lost in the wilderness like lyrics, and use of occasional feedback. After a brief soft section, it hits with an epic ending. “Oxygen Tank” on the other hand takes its time to build up, showing off the wonderful DIY production. Punchy drums, upfront bass, just enough room to breathe on the guitars so they don’t muddle the mix, and vocals that always feel on the brink of distorting right out of the speaker. The build up payoffs off with the closest the band has gotten to a normal chorus (“you never wanted to escape!”). Definitely a highlight.

“You Had a Plan” is the closest the band has come to a ballad. Heavy guitars don’t come in until around the 3:30 mark, the music takes over from there, and then the vocals throw in some powerful lines at the end. The song shows the band’s restraint while never conforming to singing when it gets soft.

“Splicing” might be my favorite from the album with its simple but effective bass lines, lyrics, and melodic (while still slightly dissonant) guitar lines. It has a standout lyric “through the haze, like a pulse, you sang”, a build up in an odd time signature, and an abrupt ending.

“When We Fall Through the Floor” musically might feel like more of the same by this point, but it makes up for it with so many memorable lyrics, so you can’t help but headbang as Scott yells, “What’s hidden in the floor?!”

“Lampblack” is a great closer, starting off with the lyric “One last thought” before closing with the line “You want to feel like you’re going home”. There is very little fluctuation in this song and is probably the most jam-like song they’ve done. Aside from the soft breaks, it stays on its main riff before the song ends and fades away.

Like their stage presence, very little attention is forced towards the album. It comes, it goes, and doesn’t over stay it’s welcome. In fact, after 6 years, a 32 minute album is kind of surprising. Most bands would feel obligated to switch things up, so something big, surprise their fans.

But Kowloon Walled City is perfectly happy to do what they’ve been doing. And their fans are perfectly happy to hear more of that. It was almost underwhelming upon first listen, but I should have seen that it’s not about what’s expected. And upon my third listen, I knew it was exactly what it was needed to be. Great lyrics. Great music. And a band that sounds like no other. Why then, would you want them to conform to the trends? Doesn’t matter anyway.

They won’t.

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(All pictures curtesy of the band’s social media pages, and websites selling their merch. If you like the album, support the band by purchasing a physical copy of it!)

Between the Buried and Me – Colors II

Between the Buried and Me (BTBAM) released Colors in 2007, an album that would change my life and the way I thought about music. It also changed a lot for the band, helping them away from the metalcore scene they were forged in, to opening slots in Amphitheaters with the likes of Dream Theater and Opeth. Those who were brave enough to get past their long name knew of their progressive tendencies, and on this album, it was on full force, like nothing before it, and in my mind since it.

My love for that albums lies in its balance. Balance between heavy and soft sections. Balance between knowing when to take itself seriously and knowing when to surprise its audience. Balance on knowing how long to stay on a riff or a grove. Balance in its transitions. Perfect balance in its 8 unique and equally important parts, that flow through as one. A balance, that I search for in all albums, but is very rare to find.

So when BTBAM announce a sequel to this album, I don’t take it lightly. This album has a lot of weight on its shoulders, and I don’t want a quick and easy cash grab.

The first single “Fix the Error” immediately left a bad taste in my mouth, aside from some Colors like arpeggios and some drum solos (that I did not yet know were 4 different drummers). It was quirky. It was punk like. And it had a vocal part that continues to grind at me after many listens.

Not at all what I think of when I think of Colors.

“Revolution in Limbo” was the next single, and this one blew me away. It sounded like old BTBAM. As if I could have been on the original Colors album. With brief moments that sounded like Alaska as well as ones that could have been on The Great Misdirect. The balance was back. Metalcore riffs, sweeping guitar licks, transitions that made sense, a confidence in its sense of melody, and a 9 minute runtime that just flew by.

Now I was confused. And the next single didn’t help me out either! A keyboard driven proggy/funky, technical death metal song that sounded more like the bands BTBAM inspired rather than themselves. Something that could have been done by The Contortionist or White Arms of Athena, while still fitting right at home on a Tommy (vocalist) solo record. Now I have three very different songs and no clue, how it all comes together.

On my first listen to the whole album, I’ll be honest. I didn’t think it did. It felt like a bunch of different eras of BTBAM all fighting for seniority. I knew there were good moments and songs, but was ready to write a review about how the balance and melodies were severally lacking.

And then I listened to it some more.

And this long overwhelming album started making sense. Not only that, but it was flying by. And just because it didn’t have the same kind of standout melodies that the first Colors had, didn’t mean it didn’t have flow.

Flow became the word of the album, because I hadn’t realized until that point how much the flow was lacking on Automata and Coma Ecliptic. I’m not saying BTBAM forgot how to write an album. They’re obviously masters of that. But it wasn’t just songs connected by lyrics anymore. Musically, this album was making sense.

From the soft intro of “Monochrome” that we know to expect from them (starting with “Foam Born (A)” from Colors, to the subtle hints and similarities of “The Double Helix of Extinction” to “Foam Born B”. This song snd “Revolution in Limbo” are a ferocious double punch with drumming and guitar chugging that feels like an old friend returning, even though they’ve made a career out of it. Soon you start hearing references to all kinds of BTBAM songs. Is the drumming a reference to “Ants of the Sky”? The vocals a reference to “Lay Your Ghosts to Rest”? The melodic lines a reference to “Informal Gluttony” or “Extremophile Elite”? You start to wonder if they were intended or not. Standouts of the song are the growls (curtesy of drummer Blake), and Ants of the Sky saloon reference.

In the context of the record, “Fix the Error” comes at a perfect spot. Now that they’ve reintroduced the modern life and isolation themes of the first album, the theme of upbringing and revolution makes more sense. It truly becomes a time to celebrate (though I still hate the “if you see the rainbow” part).

“Never Seen/Future Shock” is an 11 minute epic with “Telos” like riffs, melodies, random medical sounding sections, but it also demonstrates something on this album. Not only their confidence, but their sense of fun is really blending so well here. Maybe cause they could reference themselves so much, or maybe cause the songwriting came more naturally. But these long songs with twists and turns don’t feel like they’re dragging on. Even after a section with crazy timing, it pays off with about 4 minutes of beauty.

“Stare into the Abyss” is a keyboard driven electronic track that we’ve come to expect from them, but it provides necessary breathing room and has a post-rock climax. This before the chaos of “Prehistory”, with its video game/cartoon sounds. It follows in the footsteps of “Bloom”, “Voice of Trespass”, and “The Ectopic Stroll”, for the fun section of the album.

If the first half of the album showed they could still pull up their older and heavier style at will, this second half shows their arsenal of tricks aren’t just gimmicks, and the transitions are phenomenal. “Bad Habits” is one of the most interesting tracks in my opinion because it’s got a strong old school Prog vibe. Hints of King Crimson, Genesis, even Gentle Giant scattered throughout their aggressive delivery. From the keyboard tones, jazz, folk, and classical, it is definitely a Dan (bassist) song, it brings out the best in Tommy, especially with its emotional delivery of lyrics like the return of “sleep on, fly on” from “Ants of the Sky”.

Then comes the aforementioned “The Future is Behind Us” which sounds so fun and welcoming in comparison, before moving on to “Turbulent”, which actually doesn’t live up to its name. In actuality, it is another moment of simplistic electronic keyboard parts, continuing what the previous track started while making references to other songs, bringing different ideas together. It just lets you get to the music while building up for what is to come. But before they do that, they actually drop out for a bit with “Sfumato”.

Like “Viridian” before it, the band provides breathing room before the epic closing track. It introduces what will be a main theme on the keyboard while giving off serious David Gilmour vibes, which you can never have enough off. This just leaves…

“Human is Hell”, which acts as the “White Walls” of the album. Starts off similar with a driving riff they actually borrow from The Great Misdirect. It follows a similar trajectory as “White Walls” but not without its surprises! The title of the song is said in a part that reminds me of “Digging the Graves” by The Faceless. The first few minutes are almost punishing in how heavy it comes off, and then the melodic chorus comes out of nowhere, almost bittersweet.

It’s impossible to say everything that happens in the song, let alone all the references. Halfway through the melodic melody from “Sfumato” comes back and introduces an extended soft section with beautiful lyrics, melodies, and solos. Then a familiar chord progression leads to a keyboard build up, similar to build ups we’ve seen in their epics before. You can already imagine the audience getting pumped up at this part for the big finish.

After a “Swim to the Moon” nod, a “Prequel to the Sequel” like breakdown, and mini drum solo, we have a brief soft part, before the final chorus. Once this ends, we have the brief major key guitar solo like seen on “Goodby to Everything (Reprise) and “The Grid”. This gives it a classical finale ending, as opposed the sorrowful one of “White Walls”. This is one of my few gripes because it feels like band is relying on it too much, but it is a short gripe for such a triumphant album.

It is so hard to condense writing about this long album with all its references, all it twists and turns, all its technicality, and all its musical sensibility. I fear this review might already be as long as the album itself. But to try and summarize, for someone who was so worried about a sequel to something they loved so much, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Then again, how do you expect a sequel to something that was so unexpected in the first place. But the band passed the test with flying colors, finding a confident way to pick and choose the best parts of their career without completely redoing it.

BTBAM has always had the unique ability of sounding like everyone other band and yet only like themselves at the same time. There wasn’t much they needed to prove to their fans at this point, but their impressive talent to continue challenging themselves while playing some of the most challenging music out there is nothing short of inspiring.

2016 Album Review #13

Kowloon Walled City – Grievances (Gilead Media)

  Kowloon Walled City is a band from San Francisco, California. They were formed in 2007. Their music is a blend of sludge metal, doom metal, post-rock, post-metal, and punk. It reminds me of bands like Cult of Luna and Neurosis in terms of the heaviness combined with beautiful atmosphere, however the vocals take a monotonous yelling approach. Their style is also reminiscent to Slint’s classic album Spiderland, but to write them off as just a clone would be a terrible disservice to the band. In 2015, they released Grievances, their follow up album to their critically successful Container Ships album from 2012. Grievances is the band’s 3^rd album overall, and fifth release overall. Musically, it continues from the style that the band started on Container Ships. The production is clean and solid. The music is more slowed down, sludgy, and spacious then their early material. Lyrically and musically, the band is influenced by the idea of technology, industry, relationships between power and employment, and the power employers have over us. Musically, the band takes a simple approach. No crazy guitar or vocal effects, just good old-fashioned rock and roll. In fact, the music itself sounds very dry, and it is quite impressive how spacious it actually sounds. As a whole, this album is very hypnotic, and very easy to listen through and get lost in. With a length of 37 minutes, it lasts exactly how long it should. It’s not too long, and not too short. Just the perfect amount punk, metal, sludge, and ambience, no matter what time of day it is. The riffs are heavy, the chord progressions are beautiful, and the vocals provide a perfect balance between power and fragility, which is a very hard thing for vocalists to accomplish. Overall, I can not praise this band enough, and they have released yet another amazing album in their already impressive collection.

– Jordan Salfity

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/kowloonwalledcity/

Website: http://inthewalledcity.com/

Bandcamp: https://kowloonwalledcity.bandcamp.com/

Agalloch at the Echoplex (Tuesday June 9th, 2015)

Agalloch are one of my favorite bands, and I have been fortunate enough to see them 3 times prior to this show. Their live shows are like a religious experience for me, and it feels that much of their fan base feels the same way. Until the last couple of years, they were not a consistent touring band. Even though they have been around since 1995, they started out as a mysterious band that would only come around on special occasions. That has definitely changed, as 2015 saw the fifth Agalloch show since December of 2010. However, word of an Agalloch show has remained a cause for celebration, as they can only happen during the summer months, winter break, or spring break (as one of the members is a professor at a University). This was the third time in a row that the band would be playing at The Echoplex, and upon lining up there was a strange sense of deja vu, as the faces in the audience remain the same. Even the opening band was someone who had previously opened for Agalloch at this very same venue. Nonetheless, the crowd was anxious to witness another great set.

It seems that Agalloch always brings the rain with them to Southern California. The weather was hot and humid but cloudy and sprinkling at the same time, which is unusual weather for us. Because of this, the crowd was anxious to get into the venue. The line was long, and the Echoplex filled up fast. People rushed for the front, or for the merch booth which is always filled with tour exclusives at an Agalloch show. Helen Money started the show at 9 PM. I had previously seen her open up for Agalloch at The Echoplex as well as opening up for Neurosis in Santa Ana. She is a very interesting opening act because the set consists of just her and her cello (not something people are used to seeing at a metal show, but it totally makes sense at an Agalloch show). She uses effect pedals such as distortion, tremolo, reverb, and delay to create unique sounds that I have never heard out of a cello before. She also uses looping pedals so that she can play over herself. The music from the set comes from her latest release Arriving Angels. It was the same set I had previously seen two times before, but it is still enjoyable to see because of its diversity. She goes from drone, to playing heavy metal riffs, to playing dark jazzy licks, to dissonant chords, to classical sounding melodies, to using drum tracks, all the while creating an unparalleled amount of atmosphere. It is a ominous set as she spends much of it looking down at the floor rather than the audience. She takes brief times to address the crowd and thank Agalloch, but the cello does the majority of the talking for the set. She has done a lot of work with different bands and musicians, but it often impresses me how underrated she is. I would love to see her become more of a force in the metal world and continue to collaborate with different and exciting musicians.

The crowd was pretty respectful during her set, but the sense of excitement was hard to hide as she left the stage and Agalloch began to set up. The lights went down, and “(Serpens Caput)” from their latest release The Serpent & The Sphere began to play. During this time, lead singer John began to light incense, something that anyone who has been to an Agalloch show should be familiar with. The smell filled the room, and helped create a sense of the forest in the dark venue (something that was also enhanced by the tree stumps sitting at the edge of the stage). From there, the band grabbed their instruments, and went straight into “The Astral Dialogue” from their new album. Admittedly, I was not as impressed by their new album as much as I was the previous four. But that didn’t stop this from being an absolutely amazing opener. Agalloch always amaze me by putting together setlists that flow together incredibly well, and this one was no exception. It continued the bands tradition of taking chances and risks, while trying to please their fans at the same time. From the heavy driving riffs which created lots of headbanging, they moved on to the more ambient “Vales Beyond Dimension” from the same album. Before anyone could get mad at all the new material being played, they pulled out a couple of fan favorites in the form of “Limbs” and “Ghosts of The Midwinter Fires”. They returned to the new album with “Dark Matter Gods” before going all the way back to their first album, with the ever popular “Hallways of Enchanted Ebony”. The crowd went crazy as they returned to the Ashes Against the Grain album with “Falling Snow”. Then came time for a pleasant surprise, as they played “Great Cold Death of the Earth” (my favorite Agalloch song) for the first time ever in Los Angeles. Finally, they concluded the main set with “Into The Painted Grey” which is an epic track that goes through fast moments and beautiful melody lines. The band exited the stage with the sound of drone, but returned with two encores: “Of Stone, Wind & Pilor” as well as “Plateau of the Ages”, which is an 10 minute instrumental track.

Some of the highlights of the set were the crowds reactions to the older tracks, John playing drums during the middle section of “Great Cold Death of the Earth”, and the extremely risky idea of having a long instrumental as the encore. John has gotten extremely comfortable with talking to the audience and joking around, and the rest of the members do a great job with engaging the audience and having them sing along to the music. The set even made me appreciate the new album much more as the songs worked really well in a live setting. The band hung around and talked to the fans after the set. They seem much more comfortable engaging with their fan base as opposed to the first time I saw them live in 2010. Many people who saw the band for the first time expressed the pure enjoyment that the show left them with, as did the people who had seen them multiple times. It left me wishing that I could relive it all over again the next night down in San Diego.

Setlist:

1. (serpens caput)
2. The Astral Dialogue
3. Vales Beyond Dimension
4. Limbs
5. Ghosts of the Midwinter Fires
6. Dark Matter Gods
7. Falling Snow
8. Hallways of Enchanted Ebony
9. …and the Great Cold Death of the Earth
10. Into the Painted Grey

    Encore:

11. Of Stone, Wind, and Pillor
12. Plateau of the Ages

Tombs – Savage Gold

– 8/10

– This album came out on June 10th (the same day that the new The Atlas Moth album came out) and that was an incredible day for music. Both bands play a style of music that blends post rock/metal (like Neurosis and Isis) and mix it with elements of black metal. Whereas The Atlas Moth focuses more on psychedelic elements, Tombs focuses more on darker and sludgier elements.  Both albums got immediate high praise from me and I knew that both albums would be high contenders for best albums of the year. However, as the year went on, The Atlas Moth album pulled away from this one, but that does not take away from the sheer brilliance of this album. From start to finish this album is full of great ideas, wide ranges of vocal styles, tons of ambience. Tracks like “Thanatos” mix the black metal and sludge so well, that you expect to hear shrieks over the speed picking before the Scott Kelly like vocals make their way into the mix. “Portrait” and “Seance” continue to deliver memorable melody lines and the longer songs of the album like “Echoes” and “Deathgripper” just seem to fly by. “Edge of Darkness” is a highlight of the album for me, mixing together parts of bands like Agalloch, Nachtmystium, and The Ocean together perfectly. “Ashes” and “Legacy continue the momentum of that track before “Severed Lives” slows things down for a bit. This was a great idea because it really brings out the last track that much more. The flow of the album must have been very carefully considered, because it all works out perfectly. Even though this album almost reaches an hour in length, it definitely doesn’t feel like that. It is so easy to get lost in, but it is also full of moments for headbanging and other assorted ways to rock out to music. All in all, I thought it was going to be difficult for Tombs to follow up Path Of Totality the way that that album had followed up Winter Hours. But luckily, I was proven wrong, and they were able to make huge advances over their previous album yet again. This is definitely going to be a difficult album for the band to top in the future, but I am sure that the band is more than capable of meeting that challenge.

Sunn O))) and Ulver – Terrestrials

– 8/10

– A collaboration that I used to dream about happening, and finally did. American drone metal meets Norwegian experimental music. What would it sound like? For a lot of people the sound of this album was not a shock and was easy to expect. For others, myself included, that was a good thing. Both bands are familiar with drone, ambience, build ups, climaxes, and a whole lot of atmosphere. Both bands have also found ways to include instruments more commonly associated with jazz than metal. And that is exactly what we get here for around 36 minutes split up into 3 long tracks. The first track introduces us to a build up using drones created by guitar and keyboards, as well as trumpets soloing over that, until a loud in your face climax towards the end. The second song has more darkness, unlike the mystery that can be felt on the first track. Instead of an in your face climax, this one just fades away, almost as if into despair. The third track builds up with violins and violas rather than horns, and continues that way for almost 7 minutes. Finally a keyboard comes in the background and the stringed instruments repeat melodies, creating a classical build heard on Ulver’s release from last year. Vocals come in for the first time on the album, and definitely make this more of an Ulver track than a Sunn O))) track like the previous two. The vocals start deep and almost whisper-like, before going up an octave and becoming epic and melancholic. With 4 minutes left, the album repeats melodies from the album, and fades away, giving a satisfying ending like the end of Marrow of the Spirit by Agalloch. Overall, some people will not like this album because not enough happens for them. I on the other hand would like to see more from this collaboration, and found myself giving this more spins than I normally give albums that focus on this kind of experimentation.

Junius – Days of the Fallen Sun EP

– 7/10

– Junius was a very exciting discovery for me. A band that blended the tones and sounds of Post-Rock with straight forward and very catchy songwriting. It’s music that I can sing along with and it still has the atmosphere to get me lost in it. I was very anxious for a new release after their 2011 release Reports From the Threshold of Death, which I discovered in 2013 when I saw them twice in one weekend. I was excited that they were to release an EP in 2014, but was a little disappointed to find out that the majority of it was not going to be new material. This EP is consisted of 8 songs, 6 of them original, but 4 of them are instrumental interludes all under a minute long. That means the majority of this album is 2 old songs that are re-recorded, and 2 completely brand new songs. To be fair, the two songs that were re-recorded were hard to find because they were original released on limited edition split EPs. So for many people, it is the very first time that they are hearing these songs. Also, the format with having multiple instrumental interludes harkens back to their first two EPs, which were both 5 songs long and contained instrumentals just like this for the purpose building up to the next song (these two EPs were later released together under the name Junius). So this EP is full of nostalgic factors. It also has been gaining a lot of attention for the band as well as reviews giving it lots of praise. So this EP turned out to be a success for the band. I however would have liked to see a little bit more from the band after 3 years, but definitely give the band a lot of praise for making these hard to find songs more accessible. Too often bands will make songs and let them slip by, instead of revisiting them and giving them the attention they deserve. Musically I have no complaints about this album. The old songs sound great and the new ones continue their trademark sound. The biggest surprise is the song “Battle In The Sky”, which contains chants instead of vocals to represent a fight or a war through music. Hope to see a little more activity coming form these guys soon, whether it is another album or another tour.