Fell Voices: Regnum Saturni (2013)

Repetition

You will of course understand that I approached Fell Voices with some trepidation, when I learned they were a “drone/ambient” black metal band. But I also approached with an open mind. I’ve attempted to make some kind of sense out of drone music a handful of times over the past few years, with limited success, but I may have figured this out.

Maybe I didn’t figure anything out. As I mentioned recently, I’ve been freed from headphones, and volume constraints. And I’ve been advised that drone music should be heard loud. That’s how I listened to Regnum Saturni.

Northless: Clandestine Abuse (2011)

Heavy Week, Part 4

Review

Northless is a sludge metal band from Milwaukee whose first full-length Clandestine Abuse caught my attention when it premiered on Invisible Oranges. For those of you who think Remission was Mastodon's finest hour, take notice.

It's been a while since I've name-dropped Mastodon this extensively, but after listening to this album you'd be hard-pressed to pinpoint what, exactly, distinguishes Northless from Mastodon's early material. That is, before the latter got proggy and started using clean vocals. Both are mostly mid-paced, very heavy sludge metal, with a fair amount of dissonance in the guitar leads and hardcore shouted vocals. Northless doesn't speed up quite as often (though they do on the last couple tracks), they tend not to let up on the heaviness, and there are no solos to speak of. Those are really the only differences, and they're not much.

Well, that, and the songwriting isn't as strong. The riffs aren't as good, the leads aren't as interesting, and they don't mix things up in the pacing or atmosphere departments as much. But the music is still strong--by aping the style of such an amazing album, they're inviting a lot of negative comments, but the music is still interesting. And other than "Not Made for Existence" dragging on a bit in the middle, there are no missteps. Plus, the clean vocals that do appear on closer "The Storm" are a nice touch, without the nasally quality of the legendary Georgians.



The Verdict: Northless isn't particularly original, but they're dedicated to a sound that was mostly abandoned by the best band doing it. They're filling a void a lot of people want filled. On the other hand, there are a lot of other bands trying to fill that void (Bison B.C. and Howl are two other obvious contenders). I'm not sure we really need this. I like it anyway, though, so I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Thou: Summit (2010)

Review

Thou is a sludge/doom band that's been making some year-end best-of lists in the metal world, so I decided to check out Summit.

After hearing it, I'm not quite sure why they've gotten so much attention. This is not to say that it's bad, in any way. They have a very heavy, warm sludge sound, and their vocalist has a raspy screech that could almost work for a black metal band. They play some good, simple riffs at a slow pace. They seem to know when to let a note ring out in the amplifier, and they're not afraid to throw in some dissonance here and there.

But with the recent rise of sludge/doom, nothing about this makes Thou seem special. None of the riffs are going to stick with you long after you finish the album, and honestly the songs tend to run together. The drumming didn't stick out enough for me to even notice it. None of the riffs or songs are bad either, but when the songs range from 8 to 11 minutes, you might hope for a little more variety.

The big exception to this is album closer "Voices in the Wilderness", which does have memorable riffs, includes more feedback, and has some acoustic sounds and clean vocal harmony near the end, making it memorable.

Those who praise the album tend to focus on other tracks, though. Maybe I just don't get it? Or maybe this is one that's supposed to grow on you? I'm not sure. But with all the great sludge/doom out there lately (Salome, Unearthly Trance, and Cough come immediately to mind) this doesn't really have all that much to recommend it.

The Verdict: Nothing about Summit is bad. In fact, the guitars have a great vibe and the vocals are good. But it doesn't seem to stick with you for long after you hear it. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.