Yet again the patience of their sound is something you can’t ignore. It’s most noticeable with the last three tracks, Plateau Parts I-III – tracks that are less metal, more Klaus Schultze..
Yet again the patience of their sound is something you can’t ignore. It’s most noticeable with the last three tracks, Plateau Parts I-III – tracks that are less metal, more Klaus Schultze..
Deep from under the mountain come Sunwølf with their new LP. And of course we at Incendiary think this is a VEry Good Thing. This is a softer sounding record than their last, (Beyond the Sun) but somehow it has far more presence, there’s more variety too, and the accent this time is very much on looking to bliss out rather than set up a grinding wall of noise, and that works incredibly well. They still have that clean, chrome-plated sound but there’s a sense of looseness, of abandon about Midnight Moon. All in all it makes for an incredibly cool record.
The opener Sellanraa is a drugged thing, too torpid to do much apart from repeat the same lethargic riff. Prey to Melancholy is a frayed demonstration of sludgy riffing, initially content to prowl around in a fuzzy stupor (it does feel like a come down record, the sort of thing that would be a great soundtrack to the day after a particularly dumb-ass party) and only rousing itself around the five minute mark. The title track raises itself to a standing position for a bit of a rock-out but from then on we see another side of the band, one that is unexpected but not unwelcome as it displays a side of them that is more flexible, funnier, one with more personality. Mortar and Bricks plays the Earth-style sludge rock game with aplomb whilst balancing the track on a clean and somewhat delicate melody line. Breach is softer yet, a lullaby almost and closer to a proggy film score or one of Explosions in the Sky’s softer work outs than anything else. And In Earnest starst to disappear over the horizon, presumably in search of Ry Cooder. What is going on?
Yet again the patience of their sound is something you can’t ignore. It’s most noticeable with the last three tracks, Plateau Parts I-III – tracks that are less metal more Klaus Schultze; dry swathes of electronic sound nestle snugly together to create a dreamscape that is always hypnotising.
Good stuff all round.