Back in the primordial days of this here blog, we attempted something called “AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö.” The basic idea was to select a bunch of unsigned bands and give them the collective review treatment to find the most worthy buried gems. It was our humble effort to remind folks that the metal underground is still an important part of the world of metal.
Post-death metal is a genre. Over the course of this modern age of the chugged out, down-tuned, and grave-turning arts, we’ve seen bands look to the wild dissonance of Gorguts with resolved and melancholy wails. In turn, this churn of rattle and texture has given rise to the like of Aeviterne and Devenial Verdict who tonally match ISIS or the wistful side of Ulcerate as much as any skronk-chorded, calculus time-signatured romp that a Sunless or Nero di Marte can slam down. But, much like the multi-pronged path to sludge, it was also only a matter of time before we saw bands start to emerge that are arguably more post than death, yet still too riff-minded to omit death from moniker. Enter Floating who drifts in this ambiguous land between riff and hypnosis, hailing from the unambiguously real land of Sweden1 Self described in bold characters on their Facebook page as “EXTREME MUSIC FOR NICE PEOPLE” these affable Swedes have pushed out their debut The Waves Have Teeth at the fair price of Name Your Price on Bandcamp. Well our reviewers have teeth too, but do they bite? – Dolphin Whisperer
GardensTale: Floating has potential. Between the cover, the title, and the sea sounds during the intro, they are clearly committed to a theme for this album, and indeed the The Waves Have Teeth sounds damp and constricted, like seaweed strangling you underneath the waves. The peculiar mixture of death metal, sludge, post-punk and post-metal makes for interesting textures that make me feel hazy and harried, especially as the tones oftentimes lean on dissonance and even employ tremolo to give the music an unsteady feeling. But while Floating has good ideas for overall sound and atmosphere, their songwriting lags behind. Most of the riffs have no hook and lack memorability, instead attempting to brute force themselves into your head simply by playing more often. The vocals are largely one-dimensional, a one-note death growl with a sprinkle of the occasional post-punk scream. The bass is good, and the drums leave little to be desired, but the rest consists of over-repetition of material not worth repeating. I inevitably tune it out well before it’s over; considering it’s not particularly long, this does not speak well for the engagement it musters. Floating does have potential, but the promise goes unfulfilled on The Waves Have Teeth. 2.0/5.0
Dear Hollow: Floating already has a great start. While taking fairly obvious and dissonant cues from acts like Gorguts and Ulcerate, there are plenty of Isis post-metal-isms, punk rhythms, and moments of graceful clarity that keep The Waves Have Teeth from rotting in its own filth. Revolving from blasts to doom-inspired slogs to half-time punk beats, the album moves with fluidity across a daunting slimy darkness, stopping to reflect periodically on its own devastation in hauntingly beautiful crystalline plucking and nimble bass noodles that add a dimension of clarity and technicality to an already patient songwriting style. While tracks like “Gag” and “No Eyes” are full-force intensity of crushing riffs, disgusting leads, and punky rhythms, “Pile of Birds” and “The Hill Will Know Him” feel like Panopticon B-sides fed through the death metal machine, relying on colliding, sprawling, and complex melodies that border apathy and sanguinity. The nine-minute-long crescendo of “The Floating Horror” feels more floating than horror, a complex and well-written instrumental sprawl that grabs attention and never lets go, as its major key descends into dissonance by its desolate conclusion. The Waves Have Teeth is imperfect, as the punk beats miss on occasion: “Gag” and “No Eyes” feel awkward and jarring. Elsewhere throughout, the albeit formidable vocal attack is too loud in the mix, drowning out the instrumentals in spots. All aside, though, thanks to its intriguing blend of ugly dissonance, haunting melody, and upbeat punk beats through the crooked lens of death metal, Floating offers a great start for a band with an already distinct sound that just needs some fine-tuning to achieve their full gnarled potential. 3.0/5.0
Carcharodon: I find it’s always best to go into a Rodeö with good core strength and low expectations. You never know, you might even get a nice, tasty kick in teeth. And so it proved with Swedish duo Floating, who melted my face with their stripped-back, abrasive, yet melodic, brand of progressive death metal.2 Dissonant, brutal and (almost) pretty, their debut album, The Waves have Teeth, has proven to be a really nasty treat. Drawing on the likes of Ulcerate and Gorguts for their death metal inspiration, but also building in a blackened edge from the Panzerfaust stable and occasional misery-drenched atmospherics à la NONE (“No Eyes”), Floating isn’t fucking around. Ripping through their work in only a shade over half an hour, Floating have packed a lot into The Waves have Teeth. The album has a really nice flow to it, as “Gag” transitions silky smooth into the jaunty groove that opens “Pile of Birds,” which winds itself up to a fevered frenzy of chaotic death metal with harrowing growled vocals. Throughout, the work on the drums is great and there are some very tasty riffs on show. At various points, the casual listener could mistake what’s happening for post-metal whimsy. But they’d be wrong. Whether it’s the brooding menace of “The Floating Horror” or the all-out assault off “Gag,” every track on The Waves have Teeth offers something darkly different and I am here for all of it, the production job included. Floating ain’t no floater. 3.5/5.0
Thus Spoke: “Post-death or tough guy OSDM?” so asked the Dolph, and I knew my answer immediately. The former was bound to be at least a little elegant, nuanced, and surely more interesting than the latter. Thus it was that I sat down with the debut LP from Floating, The Waves Have Teeth. And while the Swedish outfit’s blend of post-punk and post-hardcore bounciness with dissonant death unpalatability, sealed with a relatively raw, minimalist production is certainly interesting, it’s not especially enjoyable to listen to. Songs spend much time on repetitive riffing following dissonant or simply dull scales (“The Seep,” “Pile of Birds,” “No Eyes,“). And the weirdly spunky energy of these uptempo passages jars quite unpleasantly with the guttural growls that are the dominant vocal style. Melodies are tediously mellow at best, and underdeveloped at worst. Sometimes there is something admittedly cool going on. The way “Gag” toys with a dissodeath with a spiral of blastbeats and tremolo, and scattered wonky guitars is exciting, and recalls the latest from Seputus. Final track “The Floating Horror,” has a certain allure in its shifting melodies, post-black atmosphere, and fluid drumming. Perhaps what really helps this song is the fact that it’s an instrumental because the vocals can’t clash with the music’s style; they are in themselves abrasive in their excessive loudness. I won’t deny that Floating is doing something original here, but they have not yet found the sweet spot between their competing musical sensibilities. I hope they come closer next time. Mixed3
Dolphin Whisperer: The underground can harbor sounds unexplored, but really that’s why we trudge around in its unpredictable waters where acts range often between mystifyingly frustrating or frustratingly misfired. Thankfully Floating falls closer to the former. While metal and post-punk have a long and largely parallel history—with some notable crossover acts embodying the wildness of both in varying degrees, like Killing Joke or Voices—there haven’t been many widespread cases of a successful convergence between the bounce-friendly punk attitude and the disparate grime of death metal. Floating sure does give it a good try though, and the results are often… humorous? Take for instance, the (un)intentionally butt-shaking bridge on “Gag,” which also features the album’s most obnoxiously loud and edging vocal performance. And somehow this leads into the fight riff against club-bopping bass line that defines the Tears for Fears in corpse paint vibe that this Swedish duo seems to target. The inherent humor and honesty featured in these early tracks unfortunately gives way to the post-genre tendency to dabble in a texture to the point of comatose. The one-two sleepwalk of “The Hill Will Know Him” and “The Floating Horror” rob the energy with which Floating entered this world. While The Waves Have Teeth may crest early, I still feel Floating are far from living in the low tide of their young career. Keep an eye out! 2.5/5.0