“By my own admission, post-metal – especially where it crosses into sludge – is not my typical jam. So much is it not my jam that CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS on staff receive much hate for their love of sludge. But a favorable, if not effusive, word from the elusive but expressive Kronos is all I need to take a band seriously, and so it was with Poland’s Entropia.” Filthy recommendations.
“Apparently, I’m the only one ’round these parts who gets excited to see the band Dirge in the same sentence as “post-metal.” I’m like, “they’re back, baby!” and I lose my goddamn mind. The French masterminds of such classics as Elysian Magnetic Fields and Wings of Lead Over Dormant Seas were a force to be reckoned with, but then I realize: this is the other Dirge, the one from India.” International doom.
“To Which I Bore Witness implies an event, a singular cataclysm. Whether it is one as violent as an earthquake, or as quiet as the beating of a butterfly’s wing, it is nonetheless devastating. We bear witness to the aftermath of this event, the unfolding and the trauma – the hushed whispers of the failing light. They Grieve offers us post-apocalypse in all its majesty and melancholy.” Tunes for the Great Doom.
Doom_et_Al and Dear Hollow spice up the season with their Top Ten(ish) of 2022. Come for the selections, stay to harass them over same.
“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 is a thing. A Rodeö thing.
“‘I miss SubRosa, and I don’t understand why there’s no other band out there like them,’ lamented a poor, tortured soul beneath a recent review of mine. Well, ask and ye shall receive, as the saying goes. Here I am to present for your entertainment, enjoyment(!), and critical assessment, The Otolith, a band that has risen from the ashes and sports four members of symphonic doom quintet SubRosa.” SunRoses to the faithful.
“Molten Husk is an album built on a balance of synchrony and glitches, a duel of cohesive riffs and splattering experimentation. We embark on a journey with Abest, witnessing this dichotomy and wondering what the hell we do with its lesson. As the journey dwindles to its final moments, Molten Husk fully succumbs to the chaos. A corrosive and unforgiving beast, whose growls are abruptly interrupted by a spare moment of humanity in the haunting “Possessor,” it pummels and unnerves in a soundtrack of breathing darkness. But this is no black metal, though it makes sporadic appearances. This is not death metal, although listeners may be reminded of it. Although based in sludge, density is eschewed for a palpable crunch instead of earth-shaking weight. At the end of Molten Husk, Abest will challenge what you think about post-metal.” Abeast.
“Conjurer purports to simply be “riff music,” but they’ve perhaps unintentionally made some of the most atmospheric music right alongside. Riffs, just as in the case of Mire, feel somewhere between Bolt Thrower and Isis, while passages of doom heft and post-rock clarity grace the negative spaces.” Genre hoarders.
“Sludge metal has been a frequent bedfellow of serious, art-y post rock almost since the beginning of the genre. I’m not exactly sure why, but as a product of multiple art schools myself, I can confirm that I and other likeminded insufferable wanks folks are generally drawn to the resulting aesthetic thanks to its confrontational formal elements. Seminal groups like Neurosis and Isis built a template of harsh elegance decades ago that many contemporary bands, Cult of Luna, for instance, are happy to follow. Meanwhile, acts like Vile Creature, The Body, et al up the esoteric factor by injecting drone, noise, or electronics for downright disconcerting sonic textures. New York’s HUSH fall somewhere between these two approaches.” Suave sludge.
“More than any other sub-genre of metal, post-metal relies on weight. The long songs, the patient build-ups, the lack of typical song structure… these only work if there’s real momentum to guide them along. When you listen to the early pioneers of post-metal (Isis, Neurosis), their albums are experimental, but they’re also heavy as fuck. Even the bands that hew closer to the post-rock side of things (Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor) maintain a certain density because nothing kills the “post-whatever” vibe more than inertia. Except perhaps progressive righteousness. Which brings us to Orochen.” Call the Orochen, man.
