Here we are given a ten-minute song from France’s Year of No
Light, a post-sludge/doom/whatever sextet, and a sixteen-minute song from
Ireland’s Altar of Plagues, a band who has been getting a lot of acclaim
recently for their post-sludge black metal fusion, so we know before listening
that this is going to be far from traditional. From the back catalogues of
these bands, I expected Year of No Light to be enjoyable yet unremarkable, and
Altar of Plagues to bear the stamp of excellence. I turned out to be almost
correct.
Year of No Light’s Møn is an instrumental piece of
emotional sludge, strong melodies layered in rich sounds. A slow yet decisive
track that builds up some fire toward the end, this song is like all of YoNL’s
work in that Isis, Neurosis and Jesu can all be heard in it. However, the
melody is simply rockin’ – slow, serious, but still grooving. Very cool, and
rich effects too. I would have to say that this is one their best tunes, and
that the band has been steadily improving their style over the years. Dropping
the vocals permanently I think was a good idea, as their music is much less
progressive than that of Isis or Neurosis, and the lack of vocals makes it’s
trudging pace quite relaxing. If this band continues to work at their style
they could make some great music.
Altar of Plagues are a great new rock band by any measure.
Excellent song-writing and atmospheric black metal epics imbued with a sludgy
heaviness are their trademark. Light Through a Tomb takes a slightly
different formula, offering up a strong narrative structure. The song starts
with a 7 minute blissful post-rock swelling, before distortion hits, and
another four minutes of ominous chords before raging black metal splits the
song open. This contrast is obviously a symbol of destruction and descent. A
mere two minutes of chaos ensue before it boils abruptly down to a cold drone
that peters out into nothing. This song structure places emphasis on close-listening
in order to truly appreciate the different and relative parts, and it makes the
actual BM all the more powerful and frightening for having only a short glimpse
of it, as if it were some night-time horror that always left the majority of
its form hidden.
In short: Two wins from the post-metal scene from me with this
release.
Standout tracks: Both
Score: 8.5
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