Reports from the Underground: April 2020 prog reviewed (part 1)

Círculo en el Sol – Ascenso (Chile)
Style: Post-Hardcore/Sludge (clean vocals)
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Review by: Tyler

At a local show, a shoegaze band was playing, and none of them belonged to be in the band with each other. The guitar players consisted of a redneck and a death metal kid, the drummer could have been a model, the bassist was a nerdy hipster, and the singer was about 15 years older than all of them. It was weird. There were synths, massive pedalboards filled with effects, a theremin showed up at one point. I should have loved it, but the whole experience was ruined because there was zero low end, like, at all. That might not seem so bad, but imagine being right in front of the bass cabinet and getting blasted by the exact opposite sound of what should be coming out. It was pretty grating I have to say. This has almost nothing to do with this album, aside from it giving me Vietnam-esque flashbacks of that sound, and it is just as grating.

I might just be saying that as a bassist myself, and I could always use more low end, but as soon as the album started, I knew exactly where things were headed. There are cool sounds and ideas for sure. I loved the use of synth here (especially on “Viracocha”), but everywhere I looked I couldn’t hear any semblance of bass at all, so all I got were mids and highs for almost 45 straight minutes. Again, typically, no big deal. I’ve heard my fair share of bad mixes and loved the album yet. Maybe this would be the same if the music were any better.

For the most part, the songs are fine. At first, I felt like things were heading in the way of a Tool rip off, but those fears were soon put to rest as the band went a more drone-y route and did a lot of looping and strange noise-scape things. The similarities are still there. The riffs and guitar tone (for as not as produced as they are) as well as the vocal delivery, definitely leave a Tool aftertaste once everything is said and done. But even then, there isn’t anything Earth shattering about what Circulo en el Sol is doing from a songwriting perspective. Some of the songs groove on one idea for what seems like a year in a bad way (see the aforementioned “Viracocha”), and I felt cutting a few minutes at least could have made this a more cohesive listen. Overall, it’s a lot of the same old doldrums you get with any of these other spacey, slow, groove metal bands that we are seeing a lot of right now. Beyond some cool riffs and some weird noises, there isn’t much there to chew on when it’s over.

This one doesn’t need much else to be said. If you like stoney metal and don’t care much in the way of originality and overall quality of the listen, go nuts.

Recommended tracks: Viracocha (for the synths), Parias
Recommended for fans of: Tool, stoney sludge
Final verdict: 3.5/10

Dawnwalker – Crestfallen (UK) [EP]
Style: Folk/Shoegaze (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Josh

Metalgaze is one of the more interesting musical developments in recent times, being quite new yet already incredibly diverse. Blackgaze may be established, but there are several other offshoots of the genre as of now that are filled with untapped potential. 

Dawnwalker have taken a lighter metalgaze sound and mixed in influences from a wide variety of genres, including black metal, folk, and post-rock. This all meshes into a release with a great, consistent vibe, wherever it may stray. One song might be almost ambient, then lead into blackgaze, then into indie folk, and somehow it always works. The singer helps keep it all cohesive, sounding like Band of Horses’s vocalist after a few bong hits. His contributions help make the whole EP feel pretty chill even when it gets heavy. 

The tone may be consistent, but the styles sure as hell aren’t, and this works out great. On “Towpath” the band flirts with extreme metal, with the singer displaying some surprisingly competent shrieks over some tremolo-picked guitar riffs. For the last two tracks of the album, though, we switch gears into folk territory that reminds one of The Microphones, but without all the fuzz. Track five is even a Mount Eerie cover, so the influence there is undeniable. They make it their own, too. The rough, emotional nature of the original is replaced with Dawnwalker’s signature relaxed, mystical vibe, that vibe that permeates every track of the album. No matter what style, the vibe remains.

This is a really nice release from a fairly unique band. Put it on through a good pair of headphones, sit back, and enjoy.

Recommended tracks: The Way Home, Lost Wisdom, Pagan Plains
Recommended for fans of: Holy Fawn, The Microphones/Mount Eerie, Mountaineer
Final verdict: 7/10

Kalaveraztekah – El despertar de los tiempos (Mexico)
Style: Death/Folk (Harsh vocals)
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Review by: Jonah

Well that’s a hell of a band name. Much like my other review in this edition, as soon as I started listening to this one I was immediately intrigued. I can’t recall the last time, if ever, I had heard a band fusing death metal and Latin-American folk, yet here we are with a band doing that, and mostly successfully. Does that make for a good album, though, is the question. The answer? Not quite, but they’re trying really hard.

The mixture of folk and death is excellent, let’s get that right out of the way. The folk instrumentation absolutely adds a wonderful amount of depth to the album, and the various chanted vocals and other elements brought it just add to the heaviness rather than detract, as some folk influence can. The riffs are absolutely fantastic, and the drumming is relentless in the best way. In a stroke of absolute brilliance the band has also left the bass guitar incredibly audible, which does the music a tremendous service because the grooves that it brings are excellent.

So if you’ve jumped to the score as many people often do you might be wondering what prompted it? Two things, and both are unfortunately quite major. First, the album is just too damn long. Although there is a comfortable amount of variety amongst the tracks, after about two thirds of the way through the album they still start blending together, and honestly about a third of the album could’ve been left at the chopping block. The result would’ve been a tighter, more effective piece of music. The second issue, and the biggest one for me, is the production. While certain elements of this album sound good, the mixing is just absolutely atrocious. I assume it’s a DIY job from the band, and I appreciate the work required to get a good mix, but the fact that I can barely hear the vocals on most tracks while the drums are drilling a hole into my skull, somehow louder than the guitars, is an issue, and one that seriously prevents me from enjoying this album as much as I would like.

This all being said, there are some damn cool ideas here, and I’d love to either see this band have a future release with better production, or see another band take this particular genre fusion and just run with it. I look forward to hearing more of this interesting fusion of Mexican folk and death metal, and I do suggest giving this album a listen, just bring some Advil with you to deal with the drums.

Recommended tracks: Omehteotl, Ehekateotl Ketzalkowatl, Mixiwillotilixtli
Recommended for fans of: Bathory, Tyr, Wintersun
Final verdict: 5/10

Læment – Holy Man (US-CA)
Style: Sludge/OSDM (mixed vocals)
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Review by: Jonah

Every once in a while when I’m searching through various releases for things for us to review I get the absolute joy of finding something really intriguing and unique. As soon as I listened to the first 40 seconds or so of this album I knew it was one of those. Within those 40 seconds you get pummeling death metal riffs and drumming, sludgy roars and…a clean vocal break that sounds right out of a folk ballad, during which the instrumentation fully pauses. It took me aback and forced me into listening more, as directly afterwards the riffs and drums slam back into action full force and carry through the rest of the song.

This is an album built around sonic variety. Each song has elements of OSDM and sludge but no two tracks sound alike. The drumming shifts between death, sludge, and doom at will, as does the rest of the instrumentation. The vocals are a tremendously unique beast, offering one of the most varied vocal performances I’ve heard since I reviewed The Offering. Now, not every single style used works as well as it might, but the sheer amount of variety is staggering. We have growls, grunts, shrieks, snarls, all ranging the spectrum of low to high, as well as the previously mentioned folksy cleans, some thrashy shouts, and even a section that sounds like Travis Ryan’s “clean” vocals off of recent Cattle Decapitation albums. While it is not always effective I’m incredibly impressed by this performance, and keep coming back to it.

This is a joy of an album to listen to. The riff work is some of the best I’ve reviewed on this blog, and the rest of the instrumentation is equally excellent. The vocals are a thing to behold, and honestly I’m enormously excited to hear more from these guys. The production could definitely be clearer, and some of the clean bits probably could’ve used a tad more work staying on-pitch but those are minor quibbles beside what is one of my favorite underground releases of the year so far. Don’t sleep on this one, it’s absolutely excellent.

Recommended tracks: Until You Bless Me, The Unbeliever, Calling Fire Unto Flame
Recommended for fans of: Vader, Acid Bath, Paradise Lost
Final verdict: 9/10