![HarborLights – Isolation Ritual [Things You Might Have Missed 2019]](https://www.angrymetalguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/HarborLights-Isolation-Ritual-01-768x768.jpg)
“Back in August, I stumbled across an absurdity of the other writers loitering near the skull pit, waiting for the cleaners to finish. To pass the time, I suggested my fellows check out the advance tracks for HarborLights’ new record, which I misdescribed as instrumental post-metal.” Skull pit gossip and marina lighting.
“Flow is one of the hardest elements of songwriting to capture. It’s a combination of the fluid transition between song sections as well as a product of the interplay between rhythm and melody that creates a cascading feeling, and it often hides in the smallest details. I’d also argue it is one of the most important emergent properties of post-rock and post-metal, particularly the instrumental type. The illusion of being dragged along a river is among the genre’s most significant qualities. Ghosts of Glaciers is an instrumental post-metal band, set to release their third record of the decade, and their first since signing to Translation Loss. They are up against some stiff competition this year, including Russian Circles and Cult of Luna. Have they mastered the art of the flow, or is the river all dammed up with nowhere to go?” When the levee breaks.
“Very few days are monochromatic. For every yin, there’s a yang. The day you get promoted at work is the day your beloved pet dies. The day the attractive girl (or boy) rejects your advances is the day your brother gets engaged. Even something as simple as white-hot fury is, if examined truthfully, usually mixed with at least a healthy dollop of sadness. It is for this reason that music that captures different tones and moods feels more authentic than that which simply focuses on one emotion.” Can I borrow a feeling?
“This summer saw a couple of top-notch releases from instrumental post-metal vets Russian Circles and Pelican. Both albums were worthy entries in the genre, but we should consider them appetizers, or warm-up acts, because one of the heavy hitters just walked in, and they have something to say.” Drink this Kool-Aid.
“As always, Wovenhand were on a blinder and played a great show but their co-headliners, then completely unknown to me, blew me away. They were Chicago natives Russian Circles. I can’t now remember whether Wovenhand or Russian Circles played first but it doesn’t matter because, whichever way round it was, this was Circles‘ night. This three-piece, playing expansive, heavy instrumental metal, held the Scala in the palms of their hands that night.” From Russia with blood.
“Metal, especially doom metal, is uniquely equipped to convey the existential threat of environmental disaster at the largest scale, the human systems that are causing it, and the inadequacy of those same systems to mitigate it. Enter eco-doom band Sūrya. Greg, one of the guitarists, had this to say in a recent Cvlt Nation interview: ‘Some metal bands like to write songs about fucking wizards and Satan and I’m fully into that as theater and entertainment. But the sheer rapacity of capitalism and the epoch we find ourselves in, the Anthropocene, is the scariest thing imaginable. It’s just so fucking bleak.'” The future bleak.
“In which we fall under the Russian sphere of influence and cry about it.”
“I suppose I’m a fan of the Chicago post-metal scene: I’ve got plenty of Pelican and Russian Circles albums, and was lucky enough to see the latter live last year (which, when you live where I do, is a minor miracle). Pelican haven’t been on the same trajectory as their cousins, though, but it’s not completely their fault. Life gets in the way sometimes, and many things happened to these guys since their last full-length, 2013’s Forever Becoming. The biggest catalyst for the writing of Nighttime Stories was the death of Tusk vocalist Jody Minnoch in 2014.” Darkness as catalyst.
“You wouldn’t know from my reviews, but I listen to plenty of extreme metal. Pretty much anything that gets a 3.5 or higher from my fellow writers will get a spin in Chez Huck. I don’t often write about extreme metal because, to be honest, pretty much all of my cohorts are more well-versed in that subject matter. I would be doing you a disservice by faking my way through a review. But once in a while, something comes along that a: really grabs my attention, and b: arrives on my doorstep before anyone else can get their filthy hands on it. Last year’s excellent Agrimonia album is a great example. And this year, Adrift struck the same chords. So here I am, about to fake my way through a review about some excellent blackened post-metal.” Fake reviews!
“Back in the olde days, if a band took two years between releases they were considered to be “on sabbatical.” Nowadays, if a band puts out an album faster than every two years, we wonder why they’re rushing things. An album a year used to be the rule, and that’s a rule that Cracked Machine seem to be adhering to early in their career. The Call of the Void comes hot on the heels of the Wiltshire quartet’s 2018 debut, I, Cosmonaut. Maybe it’s easier to write post-rock songs with psychedelic overtones, or maybe these fellows just have a lot of ideas swimming around in their heads.” Grinders.
