Morne

Many, many times we hear the old cliché about a bands difficult second album. Let's put that old adage to bed right now.

After 2009's master class in dark brooding metallic hardcore, namely Feral Ward's Untold Wait we have here the follow up record. With this the band has kept their sound whilst delving into a slower more complex direction (akin to the title track from Untold Wait). It is a complex record compared to previous material not only in terms of musicianship but primarily complex in structure.

Clocking in at 66 minutes long the record lends coherence as each song follows nicely into the other making it a very comfortable listen, sweeping keyboard passages; with sparse piano add a total sense of ambience whilst the driving guitars give it much needed edge.

To my ears the key to a good production is drum sound, without it a record will sound weak no matter how good everything else sounds. Rest assured the drums are pounding and not too high in the mix; guitar tone is cutting with a subtle bass throbbing behind to make it all ultra heavy. And heavy it is. The vocals as always are not overdone and too high in the mix, they appear only when necessary and this allows the great guitar work to breathe. Lots of picked chords and great riffs, and riffs there are a plenty. Not good riffs but great riffs, a demonstration of great song-writing with amazing trademark breaks in ambience that lead to pulverizing metallic chugging punk riffs, like in personal favourite "I Will See You" the mid section is just amazing with its primal guitar work and a great solo at the end just to seal the deal. Another stand out track is track two "Edge Of The Sky" which towards the end has a powerful ambient and reverb drenched section akin to the likes of latter day Cult Of Luna.

This record embodies everything I like about music and in particular this style. It has everything, great atmosphere, heavy as fuck, great riffs, hooks that pull you into the world in which the songs were written in, a sense of hopelessness rings true throughout the record but, this record is not altogether bleak, as throughout the darkness dawn beckons and with dawn comes a new light. [by: thesleepingshaman]

[myspace] | [last.fm]





[2011] Asylum

01 - Asylum
02 - Edge of the Sky
03 - Nothing to Remain
04 - I Will See You
05 - Killing Fields
06 - My Return
07 - Volition

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Vestiges

A banda Vestiges foi formada em janeiro de 2010 por dois seres desconhecidos e assim que entraram em estúdio para a gravação do The Descent of Man, um terceiro integrante foi adicionado ao line-up oficial. Pouco se sabe sobre a banda, não tem fotos dos integrantes, nem informações mais precisas de localidade e outras coisas.

Musicalmente falando o som dos caras é basicamente influenciado pelo Hardcore, Black Metal, Crust, D-Beat, Post-Rock e blablabla. O primeiro registro da banda foi lançado no dia 10/10/2010, e apresenta uma sonoridade bastante sólida e digna de atenção e admiração.

A primeira coisa que você irá pensar ao ouvir o som dos caras é na semelhança com os gênios do Fall of Efrafa, porém os caras do Vestige conseguem assumir uma identidade própria sem se limitar aos clichês do gênero. Sem sombra de dúvidas uma das melhores surpresas de 2010, e com certeza merece destaque no ano de 2010 e se continuarem assim os rapazes desconhecidos tem muito futuro pela frente.

The Descent Of Man follows the creation, the evolution, and the eventual annihilation of mankind. Today, we find ourselves hoping to reverse the damage that we have done and struggling to sustain what little earth we have yet to rape repeatedly. We validate this existence with stories that justify our behavior and our role in the natural world. The promise of salvation in a land we have yet to see has clouded our judgment in a land that is right before our eyes. Industrialization, militarization, overpopulation, theism, specieism, and nihilism are regarded as evolution and progress. Our greed and ignorance have been celebrated and our past has been forgotten. We were meant to be a part of nature. We were not meant to conquer nature. We were given life and we have done everything in our power to bring death upon everything in our path, including ourselves. There will be horrifying consequences for what we have done.

For man has sown contempt, man shall reap a bitter end.
Let our bodies replenish this earth, for the true color of man has shown!

Recomendado, e muito.

[official site] | [myspace] | [last.fm]



[2010] The Descent of Man

01 - I
02 - II
03 - III
04 - Intro
05 - IV
06 - V
07 - Outro

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Preorders for The Descent of Man will be available soon.