Any old fool can say, “The sea is beautiful.” Using music to evoke the feelings inspired by that beauty is far, far harder. To some extent, that’s something all instrumental bands have to do: since there are no lyrics to tell you what to feel or think, the music has to inspire emotion and sensation all on its own. Instrumental music is both brave and dangerous In this respect – there is simply nowhere to hide. Berlin’s Neànder aims to achieve this lofty goal by combining the density of doom, the introspective melancholy of post-rock, and the fury of black metal, all with the focus solely on their instruments. Imagine the thick, smoky riffs of King Goat; Russian Circles at their heaviest; some second-wave blast-beats thrown in for good measure, and you may have some idea what the band aspires to. This is Neànder’s second album, following 2019’s Neànder, which, despite a lot of promise, was too beholden to its influences, and ultimately ended up being chewed up and spat out by them. Now, in a relatively short time, the band is back with sophomore effort eremit, and out of nowhere, your fall melancholia suddenly has a soundtrack.
The overwhelming mood of eremit is one of profound introspection. As a result, it’s not an album for the impatient or the restless. This inward gaze is successful primarily because of how deftly it combines its influences into a compelling, often moving, whole. It pays homage to its sources without, like its predecessor, succumbing to them. The doom is thick and crushing, but it’s never suffocating; the black metal is there for dynamism and pacing rather than hate or anguish; the post-rock is ethereal, but never weightless or evanescent. These disparate parts are then wrung for maximum emotional impact. The impression is cinematic in scope without ever feeling overblown.
The tracks on eremit all follow a similar structure but provide enough variation to avoid a sense of repetition. Most begin with a heavy, doom-like riff that is slowly expanded upon, and then ultimately deconstructed, as the song progresses. What makes the album smart is the form and variety of these expansions and deconstructions. “Purpur” edges up to a powerful, soaring post-metal climax before being beautifully obliterated in a blur of blast beats. “emerit” keeps things heavy but with subtle variations on the melody, while “Ora” goes full post-rock in a shimmering, lovely surge. Post-metal only succeeds if the juice is worth the squeeze, and fortunately, when the big moments strike, there’s enough earned momentum that they stay struck. The master, by Cult of Luna’s Magnus Lindberg, is clean and clear, subtly enhancing the all-important dynamism.
There are downsides to all this instrumental goodness, however. As expansive as many of the songs are, they sometimes take a little too long find their groove, which will turn-away the impatient. “Ora” is particularly guilty of this, languidly dwelling on its somewhat unpromising opening before the good stuff hits. In addition, like many other post-rock songs, the endings tend to drag on unnecessarily. Both the aforementioned “Ora,” and “Purpur,” hit such massive peaks, that the long climb-downs feel anticlimactic. emerit is also not particularly original: while its combination of doom and post-rock is intelligent and sleek, there’s nothing here you haven’t heard before, and Neànder isn’t about to explode your mind with boundary-pushing concoctions.
Generally, I’m a bit wary of instrumental-only albums. I like vocals, and I like the texture and direction they provide to songs. Making an album of mostly slow, very dense tracks without them seemed to me foolhardy. Well, I’ve learnt my lesson. eremit, despite its flaws, hits straight in the gut. It combines its influences seamlessly to create the crushing, sadboi fall album you didn’t know you needed. More importantly, it’s alive. I have no idea what it will describe for you, but if you have a pulse, it will describe something. For me, that something was important and true. This one will connect with those who want to feel, rather than be told about, the bleak majesty of the sea on a rainy, windswept day.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Through Love Records
Websites: facebook.com/neanderhorde/ | throughloverec.bandcamp.com/album/eremit
Releases Worldwide: October 9th, 2020
