Composure Flowing Away...

Odradek Room - A Man of Silt (2017)

Coming to us from Ukraine, the group of Odradek Room have readied their sophomore album, and A Man of Silt shows the band delving into a compelling mixture of prog, doom, post-rock, and sludge, with a variety of ways to blend those styles flowing out of every track. Flexing their musical muscles in a range covering slow and melodic introspection up through snarling, dissonant rage, OR continually shift from one blend to the next without making the changes feel anything but natural. The number of instruments they put to use is just as impressive, and like the styles, they're brought together in such an organic way that their diversity can fly right past the ears. The vocals aren't quite as fluid with their changes, both both clean and dirty singing is put to solid effect, with enough time spent in instrumental passages to help smooth their presence.

It's an impressive and ambitious album, and as a sophomore release, all the more staggering for the range OR are able to pull off with few hitches, with a level of depth that issues a siren's call for listeners to return to it again and again. Give it a go if you've been in want of expansive, experimental, and extremely good metal.

~ Gabriel

For Fans Of; Animi Vultus, Bell Witch, Hesperian Death Horse, Indukti, Mamaleek

Facebook • BandCamp

Odradek Room - Mirror Labyrinth (320 kbps)

~

Doom And Downpour...

HellLight - Journey Through Endless Storm (2015)

With a run-time to fill a CD's capacity right up to the brim, and each of the first four songs rolling past the ten-minute mark, this latest album from the Brazilian funeral doom specialists of HellLight wears its immensity for all to see from the start. An emphasis on clear melodies and rising grandeur over the course of each song strengthens the band's melancholic majesty, as does the occasional use of harmonized vocals for the drawn-out deliveries of despairing verses.  While they mostly rely on reverberant bass chords for setting the mood, there's a vaguely pagan twist to the melodies that puts me in mind of a mist-shrouded forest, as though the band trucked their gear and a generator out into the wilderness to get just the right vibe for recording.
There is some floweriness to the music at times, but it's not used to a point of obscuring the music's essential drive.  Some may find the music going on too long for their tastes, but those looking for some sizable funeral doom should get good mileage out of these tracks.  A trickle of cosmic doom flavoring comes in towards the end ("Beyond Stars" in particular), bringing battering drum-beats with it, but this gets crushed back into form by the heavy resurgence of slow tempos as things draw to a close.  All in all, a very solid release with lots of care put into its creation, and impressive results from the work put in by the band.
~ Gabriel

For Fans Of;    Abysmal Grief, Below, Jupiterian, Ksyatriya, Obsidian Sea

Facebook • BandCamp

HellLight - Cemetherapy (320 kbps)

~