Pyramids and Horseback have been at the forefront of the
whole experimental metal-infused post rock scene for the last few years. Both
bands are known for creating records that sound very different to their
previous material and also for flirting with ambience. Earlier this year
Relapse released a collaboration of these two bands called A Throne Without
a King, and it mostly takes the Pyramid side of things, there being far
more ambient noise here than rock music. The album follows the structure of
having one song done by each group individually and then a very long four-part
song made by the bands collaboratively.
Despite obvious black metal influences on Pyramids
self-titled debut, they have since notably set themselves even further outside
the conventional metal scene, often times outside the scene altogether. They’re
music is something that will be shunned by your more typical (or even slightly
explorative) metalheads, so if you are one and you made it this far through the
review already, know that you can safely spend your money and time elsewhere.
In fact, if you’re looking for metal at all, this is not really the place to
find it. The Pyramids track that begins the album, “Phaedra’s Love”, starts off
with a really crazy off-kilter drumbeat, and the effects hint at Pyramids
previous dabbling in blissfully noisy soft-edged black metal, but this is immediately
taken away from us. In less than thirty seconds it just fades right out into
nowhere (ambience) leaving you feeling a bit robbed. It returns again around
the two minute mark and is once again stolen from us in less than half a
minute. We then have two minutes of quiet ambient buildups and lonesome piano
notes before we are given a taste of the chaotic drums and thick wall of noise
that, let’s be honest, is probably what most of us want to hear. Pyramids are
really not treading water here, although they are taking risks. Make no
mistake, this is for fans of avant-garde and experimental noise. The sounds are
lush in typical Pyramids style though, and on repeated listens once you know
what to expect from the song, it is actually very interesting. So if you are
open to this kind of music, it is quite enjoyable, although not on par with the
group’s earlier music.
Horseback display their lo-fi side again here, and the first
half of their track “Thee Cult of Henry Flynt” is rocking black metal.
Horseback have always distorted the hell out of their high-pitched vocal
shrieks, and they’ve always had great anthemic rhythms too, and I’ve always
loved it, and this song is no exception. Horseback’s music has for some reason
got a very positive, exciting atmosphere, despite their harsher elements. Keeping in tune with the album, however, it
dwindles into long minutes of ambience before giving a few solemn guitar chords
and shrieks near the end. A stronger song than Pyramids, but once again not the
best that this band has ever released.
Now we enter the focal point of the album, the epic ambient
piece named after the album’s title. The first part wastes itself at the
beginning with pointless ambience eventually interrupted by some outbursts of harsh
noise, and then it gets into some dark, very distorted vocals. They sound very
inhuman and quite atmospheric, bit of an Event Horizon quality to them. I would’ve
had these throughout the whole length of the track. Six and a half minutes of
crackling noise begin part two, then we are gladly given some beautiful vocals
before the song breaks down into even more abrasive static. This track is long
and difficult to sit through. The drones continue throughout the second two
parts of the album, and we are given more static in all sorts of different
forms and some very slow melodies on the third part, which I can safely call
beautiful. This is a difficult piece of work to get into, but it does have its
merits if you make the effort, as there is a lot of variation in the noises
concocted here, some of them ugly, some of them lovely. It is nothing short of
a noise epic.
Overall, ATWaK is a pretty good slice of experimental
metal/post/ambient/noise, but for some reason I suspect I will not be giving it
relistens in later years. I think the main problem with the album is that it
frequently switches from rich sounds, whether they are noisy, metallic or
blissful, to more elusive, abstract ones. This allows for continuity problems
to arise and means that many listeners may have concentration problems, as it
causes one to be unsure at any one point in time what they are actually
listening to. This, along with the quality production, also happens to be one
of the strong points of the album, as more inquisitive listeners will take
interest in the unconventional emissions heard here from beginning to end. I
get the impression the album was made for people with a bit of patience about
them anyway.
In short: Difficult to become immersed in on the first
listen, but ultimately rewarding, this is a genre-defying epic way out on the
experimental side of things.
Standout tracks: ”Thee Cult of Henry Flynt”, “A Throne Without
a Kind pt 3”
Score: 7.5
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