Across Tundras: Electric Relics (2013)
4 out of 5 stars
As I've mentioned before, Across Tundras is one of those few bands who expertly land themselves at the crossroads of metal and dark Americana. They sound like an old-school country/Western band (complete with nasally cowboy vocals) mixed with the desert rock of Kyuss. The production is extremely dry, and listening to it feels like a walk through the desert to a marginal frontier town. It's tailor-made for me, but your mileage may vary.
Given black metal's long history of "bedroom" bands, the DIY, easy-access Bandcamp should be a perfect fit--at least for those who don't go out of their way to be uber-kvlt and actively avoid broad exposure. It turns out, it is a damn good fit for black metal. There's plenty of it out there on the site.
Shroud of Despondency: Forced to Wander into Nothing (2002)
I'm starting to notice a problem with my methodology in this series. I went on a download spree a year ago, and some of these releases are no longer available on a free or pay-what-you-want basis. This is one of them. However, it's still worth mentioning. Shroud of Despondency is a Milwaukee band with a slew of releases on their Bandcamp page. Forced to Wander into Nothing is one of the oldest ones there. It's from the school of black metal which focuses on creating a soundscape rather than blistering your ear drums. The music is mid-paced and often instrumental, with nary a tremolo riff in sight, but some of the riffs are extremely interesting (see "A Ripple in Time"). Although their current lineup doesn't include a keyboardist, synths are a big part of the sound on this one, and there's also the occasional sound effect or sample. It's pretty good. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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.
I found out about Wisconsin's Morbid Saint from Metallattorney:
This album features some of the most relentless, brutal assaults on the ears I have heard in thrash metal. Every song should be hailed as a classic. This is truly an amazing album. And yet, very few people even know it exists. Such a shame.
Well, talk about a lukewarm endorsement.
I have to say, I am very much in agreement. Metal reviewers throw the words "blistering" and "assault" around far too often, but here it is well deserved. They slow down ever so slightly a couple of times, but when I say slow down, I mean they're going down to "getting a $200 speeding ticket" from "getting shot at by the police".
They sound a bit more like a Teutonic thrash band than any of their American counterparts, but being from Wisconsin they weren't really part of any of the regional scenes.
The tracks are mostly under 3 minutes, with two 7 minute tracks thrown in for good measure. The riffs change often, and solos are all over the place. Some of the best moments are a solo in "Burned at the Stake", the intro and a solo to "Crying for Death", and album closer "Beyond the Gates of Hell".
I found some conflicting information on the album's extensive release history, but it's been reissued at least five times. Yeah, an album nobody's ever heard of, from a band nobody's ever heard of, has been reissued five times. Twice in the last five years. This is in high demand.
The Verdict: The American Midwest is not exactly known for metal, but sometimes the best stuff comes from the least expected places. This album is an incredible half hour, one you should get your hands on if you can (you may have to buy MP3's like I did). I give it 5 out of 5 stars.
It's only too bad these guys haven't released another album--yet. Hey, Cynic went 15 years, and Morbid Saint is back together, so let's keep our fingers crossed.
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