Drudkh- A Handful of Stars (2010)

Drudkh’s eighth full length album “A Handful of Stars” was easily the most dividing metal album of 2010. The album sees Drudkh substitute their dense, earthy black metal riffs for crisp, clean post metal riffs. Some considered it to be an obvious sign that band had sold out and was merely jumping on the post black metal bandwagon. Others thought the change in sound was a quantum leap forward, marking a significant and beautiful epoch in Drudkh’s career. I stand somewhere in between. The change in guitar tone is not significant to me either way—since I like both black and post metal riffs. The problem I have is that “A Handful of Stars” is not as original as it initially seems. Once one gets past the change in guitar tone, it is clear Drudkh has followed the same tired formula they have used repeatedly since “Blood in Our Wells”.

Like almost every Drudkh album, “A Handful of Stars” contains six tracks: forgettable intro and outro tracks plus four long, somewhat slow metal songs. As usual Thurios provides full throated, gnarling vocals. As usual, Drudkh load the album with very good melodies. As usual, the songs travel through long, heavy passages contrasted by shorter, clean passages. As usual, all the musicians contribute sharp, clean performances.  As usual, there are some nice solos. In sum, Drudkh has released another quality album.

But that’s just the problem. We’ve all heard this album before, just with a different guitar tone. The members of Drudkh really aren’t challenging themselves. It’s easy to consistently do what you know you’re good at. Like one of those mystery writers who pumps out the same story over and over with just the subtlest of twists, Drudkh albums are becoming all too predictable. Drudkh are selling themselves and their fans short. This band has proven they can reach great heights. “Autumn Aurora” proved that black metal could be far more beautiful than anyone had ever imagined. “Blood in Our Wells” proves that nationalist metal can have depth, powerfully depicting of the resilient Ukrainian spirit, which has survived foreign invaders, genocide and famine. 

What does “A Handful of Stars” prove? That if a band changes their guitar tone everyone will think (for better or worse) you’ve done something radical and new? It’s like eating spaghetti with pesto sauce for diner after eating spaghetti with tomato sauce five nights in a row. At first bite it tastes different, but after a few more bites you realize you’re eating the same damn thing again.

So Drudkh are stuck in a rut. Yes they write good music, and “A Handful of Stars” is no exception. The four metal tracks are all quality. But envision that the riffs are a little fuzzier and you will realize that you’re listening to the same old thing. You’ve heard these song structures before, you’ve heard these melodies before. It’s the same old Drudkh, and honestly that is becoming a problem. 

Overall: 6.5/10

Fen- Epoch (2011)

Every post black metal band seems to have their own take on how these genres come together. On their sophomore release “Epoch”, Fen takes a notably mellow approach to the style. While there are some black metal riffs (mostly inspired by Enslaved's more progressive albums) and screeched vocals, there is no real black metal spirit to this album. Fen is just too even keeled to dive into the dark depths of black metal. They are also too mellow to reach the cathartic heights of post rock. Their aesthetic is derived much more from the dense, reflective sounds of fellow Northern Islanders such as The Cure and My Bloody Valentine. This music is heavily inspired by the dense, grey atmosphere of the region—thick and heavy, like a calm and steady flow of rain. 

Unfortunately, Fen lacks what make those other bands so special. There is a real lack of direction in the songwriting and little punch in the melodies. While the songwriting is far from the conventional pop song structure, it fails to captivate. The transitions pass by, virtually unnoticed, like one grey cloud followed by another. This is actually quite amazing, since the transitions can be pretty vast. Fen often shifts from a soft passage with clean vocals into a metal passage with screamed vocals, but oddly enough, the transitions make little impact. The band seems emotionally stuck in neutral, so whether it’s heavy, soft or something in between it has the same plain feeling.

Melodically, the album ranges from pleasant to monotonous. Throughout the album there are scattered some nice clean vocal passages, such as those in “Ghosts of the Flood” and “Half-Light Eternal.” These soft passages are what Fen does best. The heavy passages just are not their forte. They all blend into one another, failing to make an emotional impact. Fen simply lacks the attitude and fire needed to making moving metal.

The album starts stronger than it finishes. The opener contains a nice series somber post rock riffs with looping percussion a la Godspeed You! Black Emperor. “The Gibbet Elms” consists of a slithering guitar line and interplay of raspy growls and Pink Floyd style vocal harmonies. Unfortunately the last few songs are long and uneventful. The album becomes burdensome, wearing out its welcome.

When it’s all said and done, Fen do not have a lot going for them other than atmosphere and a few decent melodies. The musicianship is good, but not great. The metal riffs are derivative and lack the right attitude.  The clean passages are nice, but honestly nothing you cannot live without hearing. Like a being stuck inside on rainy day with nothing to do, “Epoch” is a fairly forgettable experience.

Overall: 4.5/10

Agalloch- Marrow of the Spirit (2010)

Over the past decade Agalloch has established itself as one of the most important bands in extreme metal. Agalloch have achieved this status for many reasons: their willingness to fuse different genres, their constant reinvention, and their insistence on quality over quantity. Most importantly, Agalloch have the rare skill of creating albums that are holistic and unified works of art. An Agalloch album is an event. The artwork, the lyrics and music all explore the mysterious and strained relationship of humanity and nature. Each Agalloch record confronts this theme from a new perspective, allowing the band to constantly explore new sounds and styles, but yet maintain a thematic and aesthetic cohesiveness throughout their discography.

“Marrow of the Spirit,” the Oregonian quartet’s fourth full length release, is their darkest, coldest record to date. Vocalist John Haughm all but eliminates the use of clean vocals. There are far more sharp black metal riffs and drumming than on the last two albums. The production is raw in comparison to previous recordings, accentuating the primitive spirit of the album. Still, the production is full enough that all the instruments are clearly audible. This is crucial, because the composition is complex, with numerous layers of guitar. Most of the music contains three layers of guitar: sharp black metal riffs, lush acoustic guitar and melodious lead guitar. The leads deserve special praise. Don Anderson has developed into quite the guitarist, with a seemingly endless array awe inspiring leads and solos. 

Agalloch do a phenomenal job of drawing all these sounds together to replicate the sounds of a vast, wild forest. The black metal riffs sound like frigid gusts of wind, the lead guitars sound like birdsongs, the tribal percussion like a stag walking through the snow. This naturalistic sound is accompanied by John Haughm’s image-laden lyrics. Written in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania, the lyrics poetically interweave tales of ghosts with vivid descriptions of natural landscapes. The culminating sense is a solemn and reverent awe at the depth and complexity of the natural world. 

The album contains five long metal songs, as well as an intro track—a mournful solo piece for cello. Each of the five metal tracks explores and masters a completely different sound and mood. It is like traveling through a forest, seeing it from the mountaintop, the valley floor and through the thick of the woods. Each perspective is distinct, yet the forest maintains its identity. 

While every track is phenomenal, the 18 minute centerpiece, “Black Lake Nidstang” stands out. In Viking folklore, nidstangs are poles on which curses have been carved and a horse skull has been placed atop. When set into the earth, the nidstang disperses the spirits from the surrounding area, leaving a spiritual void. The first half of the song takes place in a funeral doom pace, with tribal percussion and trance inducing guitar. Haughm takes on two different voices. First, he takes on the voice of the dead, through a cold, thin whisper. Second, he reads the nidstang through a sharp hollow scream, similar to those found on early In the Woods recordings, cursing the lake in which the dead spirits dwell.  In the second half of the song, the music shifts into a series of dissonant ambient passages before bursting out into a series of epic tremolo riffs and wailing guitar leads. The listener can practically feel the ghosts frantically dispersing in every which way, leaving a dead and empty landscape. The song captures the essence of Agalloch: it integrates so many genres—folk, funeral doom, ambient, black metal, post rock—but ultimately it sounds like nothing else.  

Black and folk metal have long legacy of musically recreating natural landscapes. Certainly there have been some amazing accomplishments, from Ulver’s “Bergtatt” to Empyrium’s “Songs of Moors and Misty Fields” to Wolves in the Throne Room’s “Diadem of Twelve Stars”. However, “Marrow of the Spirit” surpasses those albums. Never before has a metal album achieved such an intricate, dynamic and holistic representation of a natural place. In conjunction with the high caliber of musicianship, lyricism and innovation, “Marrow of the Spirit” stands as the benchmark for nature inspired metal.

Overall: 10/10

Altar of Plagues- Mammal (2011)

Altar of Plagues made a name for themselves with 2009’s post-black metal opus “White Tomb”. The album told the tale of environmental collapse through a series of monumental peaks and nerve-racking valleys. It was a massive piece of music whose presence grasped the listener from the get go. The Irish trio’s second full length, “Mammal”, takes a more introverted but nonetheless explosive approach. Instead of vast sonic soundscapes that create an entire world, “Mammal” explores the interworking of tight-knit compositions within hollow atmospheres. The result is quite different from the debut, though equally effective.

On “Mammal”, Altar of Plagues reduces both the post-rock and black metal dimensions of their music, while increasing the amount of progressive sludge, à la Neurosis and Isis. The band sounds quite natural playing in this style. The slow tempo plus the heavy echo on the bass and guitar compliment the sludgy, atmospheric riffs. The vocals are already a cross between a hardcore grunt and a black metal scream, so they easily suit the shift in sound. No one benefits from the shift to a sludgier sound more than drummer Johnny King. “Mammal” marks a major improvement in King’s drumming, as he creates a phenomenal series of looping tribal patterns reminiscent of Neurosis records such as “Enemy of the Sun” and “Through Silver in Blood”. 

Like “White Tomb”, “Mammal” consists of four long songs, ranging from 8-18 minutes. The songs bleed into each other giving the album a theatrical arc. The outer tracks are more moody and straight forward. The album opens with the dark and anxious “Neptune is Dead” and closes with tragic, dirge-like “All Life Converges to Some Center”. The middle two tracks are far more experimental and emotionally obtuse.  “Feather and Bone” is a feverish piece, full of pulsating build ups, hypnotizing drum patterns and burning climaxes. “When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” begins and ends with the sound of an old Irish woman keening (singing a Gaelic song for the dead). Between the keening passages is a mix of arrhythmic percussion and dissonant guitar progressions played at increasingly loud volumes. Overall the album feels like falling in and out of a deep trance.

In addition to impressive music, Altar of Plagues express a powerful message. "White Tomb" and "Mammal" each present us with chilling and honest depictions of the modern condition and its ultimate consequences. “White Tomb” portrays the staggering conclusion of our current lifestyle through intense depictions of social decay and environmental collapse. “Mammal” explores this same processes at the level of the individual. Ultimately, the two albums complement each other—two perspectives on the same story, two challenges to the comfort of our everyday worldview.

Overall: 8.5/ 10

Wistful- Wistful (2011)

Genre fusion is kind of like an organ transplant. If the organ is not right for the body, it will be rejected, the transplant will fail and the organism will die.  Portugal’s Wistful are the latest in a growing number of post-rock/ black metal fusion bands. Unlike many of their counterparts, Wistful have not found the right blend of the two genres and the transplant is failing. While most post-black metal bands take their inspiration from the darker, more somber post rock acts like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky, Wistful displays more of an influence from the lighter, calmer acts such as Tortoise and Do Make Say Think. That style of play simply does not blend with black metal.

Wistful’s self-titled debut sounds like a bunch of talented musicians jamming together but being on totally different pages (what’s so strange about it is that this is a one man band). The music is composed of a crisp, clean rhythm section a wall of fuzzy black metal guitar. The later simply does not fit in with the former. The bass and guitar especially clash. The bass is effervescent, poppy and up front. It might be the least compatible style of bass playing for black metal riffs imaginable. Similarly, the black metal vocals often sound completely out of place in such sunny music.

With this sort of clash, something has to give, and in this case it’s the black metal dimension. There is no one thing black metal has to be, but there is spectrum of moods and emotions it is capable of capturing. Wistful’s debut falls wholly outside that spectrum. This has to be the least intense, least moody, brightest black metal album I have ever heard. The album is totally void of every dimension of the black metal aesthetic. 

On the positive side, this debut does show a very talented and multifaceted musician (whoever the man behind Wistful is) at work. Along with drums, bass and guitar, “Wistful” contains some quality performances on cello and piano. But will this talented musician waste his career fusing discordant styles? 

Since his attitude and aesthetic are more inclined toward the post-rock style, I hope he decides to drop the black metal riffs and vocals and just play post rock. There are actually some nice moments of post rock on the album, (i.e. the opening passage of “Ego”) but inevitably they are interrupted with awkward fusions with black metal. If Wistful ever decide to simplify their formula they could probably release a real good album. Until then, this awkward fusion of mellow, clean post rock and black metal is just too uneven and clashing to enjoy. 

Overall 3.5/10

Lantlôs- .Neon (2010)

Black metal/ post rock hybrids are popping up all around the world. Considering the variety within both genres (Tortoise is as different from Godspeed You! Black Emperor as Darkthrone is from Emperor) it is exciting to see the wide array of fusions that are emerging. Thus far, Lantlôs have reached the greatest heights in this young subgenre. Lantlôs fuse post rock/ metal in the vein of The Red Sparrowes and early Pelican with a heavy dose of jazz, a touch of shivering tremolo and sharp, screeched vocals. The elements fuse together with complete and utter ease. One never stops to say, “Oh, here is a black metal passage! Now here comes a post rock part”. The elements hold together as if they were never apart in the first place.

For “.Neon”, Lantlôs’s second release, the band is composed of Herbst, who plays all instruments, and Neige (of Alcest fame) contributing vocals. Herbst is obviously an extremely talented musician and probably has been professionally trained in jazz. His drumming is just gorgeous, grounding the music in a series of lavish jazz patterns, only breaking into pulsating blast beats during the more intense moments of the album. The guitars, bass and piano are all full and lush, giving body to the intense emotions of the songs. For the most part, the riffs are post rock/ metal but the main riffs of songs like “These Nights Were Ours” and “Neige de Mars” clearly have their origin in black metal. 

Neige’s vocals really put the album over the top. His impassioned screeches are much less muted on “.Neon” than they were on the previous Alcest album, “Écailles de Lune”. Neige also contributes clean vocals to the song “Pulse/ Surreal” and I must say this is the best clean vocal performance of his career. His voice is robust and sullen, hitting each note to perfection and capturing the somber spirit of the lyrics.  

Thematically, the album tackles issues of alienation and dehumanization in modern society. The music, vocals and lyrics come together to capture this modern dilemma and to a small degree, overcome it. Each song reveals the perspective of an observant human recognizing the degeneracy and absurdity of modern society. In recognizing this degeneracy and absurdity one transcends it, insofar as he or she no longer sees it as an inherent and irreducible dimension of who he or she is. However, this is not overly romantic music in which the human spirit tears off the chains of a crippled society and flies to great heights. “.Neon” expresses a much more controlled, restrained and realistic epiphanies. 

The first song, “Minusmensch” (“Minus Man”) captures this style perfectly. The lyrics describe a drug infested, industrial city full of dispirited faces. The music shifts back and forth between reflective, jazzy passages and swelling moments of post-black metal. When the music finally breaks out into a sweeping post-rock crescendo, it is notably restrained. A single layer of guitar, bass and drums play out the peak—there are no layers of wailing guitars, blazing horns or wild fanfare. “Minusmensch” ends with a restrained, and thus a believably profound moment. 

It is obvious from first listen that Lantlôs have created an exceptional fusion of post rock and black metal. However, I think the conceptual theme of “.Neon” is where the fusion reaches its highest point. Black metal and post-rock have both fought against the normative view of the human being. Post rock has embraced intense, neo-romantic emotions that run against the grain of the modern ideal of the controled and reserved human being. Black metal is attacks Judeo-Christian notion of the human being by embracing the darker, more primal dimensions of humanity. “.Neon” captures this shared thirst for a richer human experience and explores moments of overcoming the limited, modern notion of humanity through simultaneously dark and ecstatic waves of emotion. While many other bands have fused the sounds of black metal and post rock, Lantlôs has done so at both a musically and conceptually higher level.

Overall: 9.5/10

Alcest- Écailles de Lune (2010)

Écailles de Lune is a dramatic and dynamic album that integrates music from a wide variety of genres into an original, cohesive aesthetic. The album fuses sounds from genres such as shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins), post rock (Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) and black metal (In the Woods, early Ulver). As diverse as these genres are, they all share a deep, reflective sensibility that lends to fluid blending. The culminating sound is very reflective—the soundtrack to the emergence of long lost memories and imaginings. Layers of regret and nostalgia clash with the sharper emotions of the present (i.e. hope, strength, and sorrow). The production creates a wide, hollow space where past and present emotions clash off each other like tides pulling in and out of a cove.  

Singer/ songwriter Neige preforms excellent vocals throughout. The clean vocals are soulful and choir-like- imagine blending the vocals from Sigur Ros and Ulver’s Bergtatt. The growled vocals are high-pitched and sharp, like those on early In the Woods records. However, the depth of the production softens their edge, making them more suitable for such a reflective work. The riffs are mostly a hybrid of shoegaze and post-rock. The best riffs are big, full and monumental, reaching cathartic peaks. There are also a number of black metal riffs with a post rock edge. For example, the final riff of the first track is a classic black metal riff, yet the melody loops and swirls in a way that in more reminiscent of Godspeed than any black metal band.

The strength of the album is the first three tracks. These songs travel through mazes of mood and melody. There is little repetition, as the music moves steadily in one direction and then another. Nonetheless, these songs don’t feel disjointed, but rather sound fully thought out. The highlight is part 2 of the title track. The song travels through sweeping, epic black metal, soft, somber clean passages and a powerful post-rock climax. It also contains Neige’s best vocal performance of the album. However, the second half of the album is a bit of a step down. The final two tracks lack the dynamics of the others- in part because the black metal dimension is removed and it part because the pace is slowed. The consequence is songs that flounder, sticking with tunes for too long and at times bordering on trite.

In spite of two weaker tracks, the first three tracks show Alcest to be an original and innovative band. Niege has the capacity to capture the power of memory, reflection, imagination and the other mysterious processes of the mind and manifest them in musical form. In sum, a strong release and a band with a lot of promise.

Overall: 8/10