Meticulous arrangements house collisions between technical shredding, complex rhythms and straight up thrash riffing for a completely unique outing.Media/Samples
The Greatest Burden flows like the Angren after the Isengard dam is torn down by the Ents. Their signature sound takes the reverberating beauty of Explosions in the Sky and enhances it with sweeping thunderstorms laden with blackened tremolo whilst keeping the cleaner melodies intact. Whereas instrumental bands often find difficulty in maintaining focus and variety, Ghosts of Glaciers make it seem effortless, as the tracks journey through a wide array of paces and textures and are chock full of memorable moments. Take the gradually increasing dirge of “Abyssal Declivity,” the phenomenal buildup and drop of the midsection of “Epigenesis” that feels like plunging down a waterfall, or the billowing melancholy of closer “Return to Entropy.” There is more diversity of emotional engagement in this wordless album than many vocal-fueled albums can lay claim to.Read the full review by GardensTale at angrymetalguy.com
They have always reminded me a bit of bands like Mastodon, Cult of Luna and Intronaut but perhaps a bit more melodic.Read the full review by Rob at progressivemusicplanet.com
“NP – Complete” finds the new lineup on the top of their game. The album has a big sound to it. It’s dense but still has plenty of atmosphere. Plus the songs really flow well which for me is the key to any album.
IV is a potent culmination of what their post rock sound can be. Aggressive, tight and a lot of fun this is an exploration in sonic mastery. The cello driven sludge and post metal assault of this band is thrilling. There are weird and exploratory functions here that few of the bands peers can match and this feeds into music you can't help but love.Read the full review by Matt Bacon at twoguysmetalreviews.com
For the many permutations ‘post-metal’ tends to wind up with, progressive oddly isn’t that high on the list. Maybe it’s the post-metal staples of lumbering pace or the need to express darker moods. Whatever the cause, it makes Minoans all the more surprising in how well it’s executed the way it is. While embodying the best elements of the post-metal tag (minus the aimless suck, for aside from the opener most of these songs wrap up in 5 minutes), and meshing it with progressive exaltations. All in all it’s not terribly dissimilar from Ancestors, though again with an extreme focus on economy within each song.Read the full review by Matthew Bowling at deadrhetoric.com
While the atmosphere is similarly stifling and the music obviously draws on the same sort of relentless hardcore punishment delivered by the above-mentioned bands, I would more closely compare Generation of Vipers with Neurosis, early ISIS, and even Intronaut. Most of their songs dominate the middle range of the tempo spectrum, allowing the percussion work and guitar and bass riffs to actually be heard and appreciated. Dark, static-infused ambient drone textures fill out the mix.Read the full review by at medium.com
Musically speaking, New Jersey’s East of the Wall are a pretty weird bunch. It might seem that the band deliberately takes on the purpose of perplexing listeners and antagonizing critics alike, because it’s rare to find a review of any of their past releases which doesn’t emphasize just how difficult it is to grasp their sound (our own reviews included). This difficulty stems from a number of factors, not the least of which is the quintet’s off-kilter approach to the three-guitar attack, or their eclectic blend of post-metal, prog, sludge, and post-hardcore. While it seems the band does take pride in this enigmatic nature, it is a role which has thus far taken the backseat to that of, y’know, making killer fucking music. This trend certainly continues on their latest album Redaction Artifacts.
Read the full review by at heavyblogisheavy.com
Forty-five minute doom/sludge/stoner/psych epics don’t come around all that often and so Seattle dwellers Lesbian have gone to great lengths (oh snap) to make their third crack at the full length that little bit more interesting and worth your time.
Read the full review at cvltnation.com