Post Posting: Sâver, Oro, Degraey
Another bounty of good post-metal reviewed on a nonsensical scale!
Sâver / They Came With Sunlight from Pelagic Records / March 8, 2019
“Hi, I’d like to order the sludge platter. Don’t be stingy.” In Pelagic’s effort to horde the world’s resources of good sludgy progressive post-metal (seriously, their roster is obnoxiously consistent and also very good), Norway’s Sâver is another excellent addition. Though their base sound is pretty typical, they incorporate a lot of doom and enough experimentation to keep me on the hook through their debut. Just about every song has a moment of “what the hell was that!?” (see ~1:20 below) which is what this homogenous genre needs. They get pretty funky with rhythms in a way that makes the composition sound like it’s about to crumble before flattening out into a comfortable groove. My main gripe is that the overly-long transition track “Influx” doesn’t really do much since the rest of the album is already dripping with thematic consistency. There’s a lot here that I’m interested in, but maybe a few too many of the parts that are supposed to be climaxes actually come off as lulls.
3.5 Post Honey Bunches of Oats out of 5
Oro / Djupets Kall / March 1, 2019
Gah! What happened to your head, bro? You should see a doctor. On this excellent debut from some Swedes, they use the Cult of Luna approach to using short, simple, and sweet melodic bits to cut through a sea of sludge and it works well for them. The pummeling fuzz creates an anxious atmosphere that explodes when the tension nearly becomes too much to handle. A back of the throat growl stays consistent over the seven tracks, as is post-metal tradition. I always like to see people push boundaries in that category, but I’ll take what they gave me with no complaints. These guys know the genre formula and execute it with ease. You’ll enjoy Djupets Kall if you like post-metal as much as I do, but it probably won’t do anything to break you non-believers. The next one might, so stay strong and listen on.
4 Postal Boxes out of 5
Degraey / Reveries / March 1, 2019
Compared to the last two, Degraey has a much cleaner sound. It’s as if post-rock took a turn for the heavy. Reveries throws strong Intronaut vibes with the guitar tones and clean-ish chant vocals to accompany some of the rasps. The progressive guitar work meanders with influences that range from Alcest to Isis. There’s a lot going on here and I’m into all of it. Their ability to build from pure melody to intense post-metal bursts is exactly the kind of range required to keep a listener’s attention for their 8+ minute tracks, even if sometimes the build is obnoxiously long.
4 Antarctic Research Outposts out of 5
