Upcoming Release pre-order @ firebox.fi/store Cruz Del Sur Music CD release. Apostle of Solitude - Of Woe and Wounds (31.10.2014) https://youtube/watch?v=2niWbOBlzkY This is a Statement. While many bands start new projects with the hope they are creating their finest work, I wont dare suppose that Apostle of Solitude entered the studio with the avowed intention of recording a career defining effort. However, the new album Of Woe and Wounds is just that. The bands debut for Cruz del Sur Music is a consolidation and refinement of bands potential. In comparison with their earlier full-length releases, the songs on Of Woe and Wounds exhibit cohesion and economy that their predecessors lacked in this degree. Between the cinematic fade-in and fade-out bookending the album is a varied, uncompromising, and superbly produced collection of songs that elevates Apostle of Solitude from a rising force to one of the elite bands working in this genre. The opener, Distance and the Cold Heart, is a well-constructed instrumental with darkly eloquent guitar work from guitarists Chuck Brown and Steve Janiak. This piece is the sonic equivalent of a long tracking shot beginning a film. However, rather than introducing the listener to a situation or cast of characters, the mournful sweep of this tune ushers the listener into the albums emotional environment. Like any individual work in an artistic field, developing an unique, recognizable style is a deceptively daunting task. The musical elements defining Apostle of Solitude are all here. There is the compelling collision of European and American metal influences heard in its spacious movement, focus, and fluid dual guitar work. There is the white-knuckled, claustrophobic intensity - despite its languid tempo, the production brings the music close to you and heightens its strongly emotive qualities. Blackest of Times begins in full-on bulldozer mode with a simple, but monolithically effective introductory riffing. Chuck Brown belts out an impassioned vocal over a grinding, brutally effective riff that dovetails nicely with the lyric. Browns direct, muscular poetry about personal dissatisfaction and desperation confidently straddles the line between specificity and the universally resonant. In too many metal bands, lyricists are content to play the lowest common denominator and litter their songs with an assortment of wizards, demons, and dark lords. Apostle of Solitude chooses to confront the demons within. The bands pull off the songs final shift into a blistering up-tempo instrumental break with such seamless finesse that it highlights another area of improvement over the bands earlier albums. A sharply discerning editorial eye has emerged and where earlier Apostle songs might have contained a section or more than sat uneasily in a song, the instrumental parts on this record feel like they lock tightly in with the songs overall scheme. This sort of cohesiveness in songwriting is one of the hallmarks of a classic. The catchy, energetic riffing driving Whores Wings never relents for a second. The guitarists blaze through verses, instrumental breaks, and bridges with a head-down ferocity that immediately captures the attention, but the inventiveness of the band stands out here in other ways. Like the earlier song, there is a newfound inevitability in how each Apostle of Solitude composition moves. Different musical motifs flow into each other without any stitches showing and possess a sense of inevitability that suggests these songs always existed, but were waiting for this band to write them down and record an album. Lamentations of a Broken Man is, undoubtedly, one of the albums strongest tracks. I find it interesting how much space Apostle often creates in their tracks. Passages resolve and linger in the air for a brief moment before the next note while slower tempos likewise create pockets in the music every bit as integral to the overall whole. The song also highlights the bands blossoming ability to write longer songs, clocking in between five to seven minutes, without weighing them down with superfluous passages. Ambitious songs deserve room to roam, but they likewise benefit from clarity of purpose and the aforementioned editorial eye that shows players what to play and when to stop playing it. Die Vicar Die is another of the albums standout songs. One of the songs impressive qualities is how the music and lyrics work together to create a powerful narrative. They groom each part to compliment the other so that, when the story reaches its climax in the second half, the music responds appropriately. The tempo picks up and any spaces heard early on vanish. The guitars solos near the end are brief but outstanding. The band romps to great effect on Push Mortal Coil and the strutting riff is perfect for this song about fatalistic behavior. Once again, the condensed solos sing with such melodic finesse that they join the band as a second vocalist providing brief counterpoint to the chaos surrounding them. Drummer Corey Webbs propulsive timekeeping gives the song much of its drive, but displays his ability to guide the band from a full on run before turning without a blink into slower, fuzzier passages as well. I responded to the twenty-four-hour-a-day gnawing despair at the heart of This Mania. Brown conveys the horrors of compulsive, self-destructive behavior with a sort of metal lyricist crossed with a Hubert Selby Jr. command for depicting extreme behavior in a dramatic way. The lyrics, however, leave multiple interpretations are possible. The circular quality of the riff, likewise, reminded me of the room spinning drunkenness that comes with boozing too much. There is a theatricality cropping up in this tune that isnt in evidence throughout much of the album. Siren is a slowly evolving, progressive-flavored metal track that never forgets to exert its tremendous power. While the performance hits many of the same highpoints found in earlier tracks, its intensity and fearlessness distinguish it from its surrounding company. There is an almost bowed, violin-like quality in some of the guitar work that added much to an already strong number. The albums penultimate song, Luna, opens with ambient atmospherics before the band opens their assault. I hear echoes of Sabbath here, but that raises another important point about this band and album. Apostle is working well within the traditions of the genre, in many respects, but the result is uniquely their own and free from the slavish imitation that affects some practitioners of the genre. Theres a wonderful, bluesy solo near the end that contrast nicely with the epic raging around it. Of Woe and Wounds closes with a reprise of the opening instrumental that fades out at its end. The sense of unity when you finish listening to this album is difficult to ignore. While far removed from their sound and intent, Apostle of Solitudes new album possesses the same spirit imbuing the cornerstone bands of heavy music. It has a recognizable voice, vision, and fearlessness. Get this one when you can. (Hellride) https://youtube/watch?v=2niWbOBlzkY
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 15:00:00 +0000
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