Another Trip Down Under

AVER ~ Nadir (2015)

 Australia's AVER are back with their first release since 2011's debut album that Jay reviewed back then, and the good people loved. Their latest album "Nadir" was released just a couple months ago and, not surprisingly, has been widely acclaimed since day one. They took the tried and true formula that made their first album so good, refined it, and stepped up their game even further. The fuzz is palpable on this slab of psyched out stoner rock that seems to never stop giving the good stuff, at least not for sixty minutes, then you just hit play again. Always on the move, but never in a hurry to get there, the album is infested with raw, powerful vocals, and heavy melodic riffs that ooze into your ears and slowly start taking over your mind. With the ability to move between teeth smashing heaviness and mellow, melodic interludes with the sort of ease that we walk from room to room with, the album is sure to have something for everyone that's a fan of this blog. After a couple of complete spins, I was stuck on the fourth track "White Lies", and it really drives home that point I was just making. The song opens up slow, some simple strumming and clean guitar playing, but it won't stay that way too terribly long. Picking up a little steam over the first two minutes, the vocals make their appearance at that point. They're blusey sometimes, and can move their way into grunge territory without any notice really, except for maybe an incoming fuzz riff. That's the beginning of a recurring pattern, melodic lulls with massive, hard hitting peaks. With most of their songs having that peak and valley pattern to them, "White Lies" included, you find yourself getting lost inside each and every one of them, the almost ten minute run time of a lot of the tracks probably doesn't hurt that cause either. And seeing as how the album's title is referring to a low point, or valley, it all fits together just perfectly. If you didn't discover their first album until a couple years later like I did, this is your chance to get in on the second album right now, don't pass it up.
~Skip

 For Fans Of; Nebula, Dozer, Sungazer

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A Quick Trip Down Under...

Aver - Self Titled (2011)

Holy crap I've been itching to get my hands on a full recording by these guys since I haphazardly stumbled upon their myspace page a while back. I had a good listen to what they put up and checked back regularly for info on anything upcoming and god bless them they finally offered up some material for download... Free! I just wish I hadn't committed to other reviews and got this up straight away, as its not been off my iPod since I downloaded it. The last few months have really been a gold mine when its come to free downloads and this has, for me at least, shot straight to the top of the table.

Your introduction to Aver starts with a the track 'Anti-Matter' and it resembles a pretty much spot on taste of whats to come - A slow melodic build up coupled with a soft hypnotic vocals before kicking into overdrive and pounding you with a huge stoner riff. The perfect way to grab your attention and keep you listening. The entire album keeps this up for nigh on 50 mins, pulling you along as it paints a psychedelic picture of floating through space before abruptly rearing up and smacking you repeatedly around the head with massive thumping bass licks, trippy desert rock breaks and screaming vocals then once again sobering out like nothing happened and you've woke from a bad dream. Its stunningly compelling and the epitome of this you'll find with the track 'Acid Rain' which manages to hit the nail squarely on the head and perfectly balance everything thats great about this band. 

Need more convincing? Well, think of the awesome distant vocals of Electric Wizard, the desert rock wizardry of Brant Bjork, spaced out ambiance of Isis and the best crushing grooves from Sleep, now whack that all together with a few cans of Fosters and you've got Aver.

For crying out loud don't let this album pass you by!

~ Jay

For Fans Of; Nebula, Dozer, Sungrazer, Sleep, White Hills

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Aver (320kbps)