A little late on this one so we're a few weeks into the season, but man this is the best time all year for listening. Here's a few to pick up as the temp drops.
Unsilence- Under a
Torn Sky
A lost epic doom classic. The Warning comparisons are
inevitable given the singer’s powerful voice and extreme Englishness. Unsilence
picks up the pace a little bit more than Warning however, and the closest
touchstone I can think of is Vast Oceans
Lachrymose era While Heaven Wept (another excellent record, by the
way). This album could be a good way to dip into the waters of doom, as the clean vocals and medium tempo offer a more
accessible entry point than the more extreme styles.
Tigers Jaw- s/t
I’ll admit this may only be a fall album to me, but
that’s just where it feels right. A great album for evening walks as the
temperature drops, trying to figure out where it all went wrong, and is it even
all that bad? There isn’t much groundbreaking poetry in the lyrics, but it’s
standard emo fare that hits you in the feels a few times. Combined with
pleasantly intricate guitar work and a nice rumbling bass and you’ve got one of
the best albums of the contemporary emo revival scene.
Hexvessel- No
Holier Temple
I may have already repped this one, but it doesn’t matter
this album is good enough for double treatment. Psychedelic folk from Finland (that sounds like it's from England) made for getting lost in the cold wet woods. The first half carries the album,
but man what a first half it is."Woods to Conjure" (below) sets the stage well, but the 10 minute "His Portal Tomb" brings the house down.
In the Silence- A Fair Dream Gone Mad
“Can you show me what’s it’s liiike, to dream in black
and whiiiiite”
Ok Breaking Benjamin references aside, that’s a pretty
good description of the feel of this album. This often gets tagged as
progressive metal, but that’s really for lack of a better term. Even without
invoking the dreaded DT comparisons, this just doesn’t really have a lot in
common with what we usually call prog. “Atmospheric” is an especially overused
term at the moment, but it does a decent job conveying the feel of this album. This
is a tightly written and well executed album with minimal waste. The track
below, “Serenity”, has retained a place in my top 100 since its release and
doesn’t figure to fall out any time soon.
