Premiere: Madrost – “From Sand To Dust”
Hadron colliders? Gene-splicing? Thermomixes? Lawn-mowers? Has science gone too far?? By fusing the razor-sharp precision of Revocation with the unchained aggression of Power Trip, and focusing it through Vektor‘s proggy futuristic lens, California’s Madrost prove the madness is far from over!
The continued trajectory deeper towards whatever dark secrets lie at the center of the cosmos is proving a fascinating journey; for every question answered, several take its place. Analogous to this is metal’s sustained fascination with the multifarious concepts presented along this voyage into the unknown. What does that mean for you, space-weary listener? An ever deepening font of conceptual inspiration. But most importantly – mad fuckin’ riffs! Check out “From Sand To Dust” (one of my favourite tracks from the album), douse your head in rocket fuel and ignite your big dumb boring face.
Madrost’s sound sits in that sweet-spot between tech, thrash, and death metal. A sort of lagrangian point where the draw from each style reaches an equilibrium. This leaves the band at a stable locus where other acts tend to perilously fall, trapped in the gravity well of their favoured genre, along with their respective pitfalls. The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh is the band’s third full-length album to date, and displays a young band managing to combine rabid intensity with flashes of poise usually associated with stalwarts. My brazen name-dropping of three bands of prominence in the intro was not merely the hyperbolic attention grab it appears to be, as throughout the album Madrost call to mind elements of each.
Perhaps the most obvious example you’ll hear on the track we’ve got for you today is likely to be the parallel with the tight bursts of angular riffing you’re accustomed to hearing from messrs Dave Davidson & Dan Gargiulo (circa Chaos Of Forms/Teratogenesis-era Revocation). And when they’re not hitting warp-drive, guitarists Tanner and Nick lock down some solid no-nonsense thrash-stompers. Tanner’s vocals retain their belligerence for the 35+ minute run-time, never venturing into clean territory, opting instead for a touch of reverb that recalls those fierce barks of Power Trip frontman Riley. The Vektor space-prog comparison is obvious, however Madrost keep things concise, not letting the bloat of cabin depressurisation hinder the record’s overall inertia. Explosive opener “Eyes Of Deceit” (found below) is the perfect indicator of the album’s consistent ferocity and quality. The final track, “Dimensions”, sees the band firing on all cylinders and serves as an exceptional finale to the album.
[Copy/Paste your own Girardi masterpiece here]
Pre-order The Essence Of Time Matches No Flesh here, with CD and/or Digital copies available from June 27th and keep up to date with the band on their Facebook page.
