ALBUM REVIEW: Great Falls, "A Sense Of Rest"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 21/12/2018

Label: Corpse Flower Records |

Throatruiner Records |

Init Records

 

…the band have expanded their sonic horizons to cover new levels of punishing heaviness.  Jagged shards of damaged post-hardcore now give way to crushing low-end riffs like a collision between KEN Mode and “Remission” era Mastodon

 

“A Sense Of Rest” CD//DD//LP track listing:

1. The Accelerationist
2. Not-For-Sale Bodies
3. Kettle Logic
4. We Speak In Lowercase
5. Thousands Every Hour
6. Baldessari Height
7. I Go To Glory
8. Scratched Off The Canvas

The Review:

Great Falls decided to throw Album of 2018 lists into disarray with the late December release of the monstrous “A Sense Of Rest”. The Seattle trios last LP “The Fever Shed” was a taut thirty minutes of barbed noise rock fury. In the three years since its release, the band have taken their furious back catalogue as a foundation and crafted an expansive beast of an album.

“The Accelerationist” wastes no time introducing the listener to Great Falls in full flow with an onslaught of razor sharp guitar, pounding drums and churning bass. It soon becomes apparent that the band have expanded their sonic horizons to cover new levels of punishing heaviness.  Jagged shards of damaged post-hardcore now give way to crushing low-end riffs like a collision between KEN Mode and “Remission” era Mastodon. “Not-For-Sale Bodies” continues the barrage, culminating in a lumbering finale that demonstrates how much weightier “A Sense Of Rest” is compared to previous offerings. 

The highlight here is the monumental fifteen minute centrepiece, “We Speak In Lowercase”. It feels simultaneously like Great Fallsunleashing all they have achieved to this point in one slow-burning epic and a huge leap into the unknown. The opening sections are unexpectedly melodic, delivered with a restraint and vulnerability that bring to mind Kowloon Walled City's amazing “Grievances” LP. Demian Johnston's vocals are at their most affecting here, from an exposed despairing howl at the beginning of the track building to an imploring scream at its climax. As the band dynamics move between quiet and loud, the tempos shift accordingly leading to a stirring slow-motion coda of shimmering reverb-heavy distortion.

It's as if Great Fallsanticipated the state of awe the mind-expanding “We Speak In Lowercase” would leave the listener in by following it with “Thousands Every Hour”. The opening minute or so of screeching feedback followed by a skipped groove, one chord riff brings you back down to earth with a dose of punk rock urgency.

“A Sense Of Rest” is an incredible release from Great Falls. A perfect blend of ragged noise rock, devastating riffs, dark melody and ambitious songwriting, this LP should earn them some well-deserved attention.  

“A Sense Of Rest” is available (LP USA) HERE, (LP Europe) HERE and CD HERE

Band info: bandcamp || facebook

ALBUM REVIEW: Pyreship - "The Liars Bend Low"

By: Charlie Butler

Album Type: Full Length

Date Released: 28/05/2017

Label: Black Bow Records

The Houstonquartet deal in a captivating brand of complex sludge with a perfect balance of melody and grit. “The Liars BendLow” is a debut brimming with potential for a glowing future. 

“The Liars Bend Low” DD//LP track listing:

1). Gravity

2). Machine Men

3). When Leaves Turn to Blood

4). Die-Sect

5). …Are We Dead Yet?

The Review:

Pyreship are set to make a big impression on the heavy landscape with their smouldering debut LP “The Liars Bend Low”. The Houston quartet deal in a captivating brand of complex sludge with a perfect balance of melody and grit.

“Gravity” opens the show in grand fashion, a seven minute epic that takes the highlights of Baroness’ “Red” and mixes in the essence of Alice In Chains and Soundgardento great effect. Vocals are used sparingly on “Machine Man” to make room for samples of Charlie Chaplin’s speech from “The Great Dictator”. The stirring words sit well within the build and release dynamics of the track and are sadly as relevant to the sorry state of the world now as they were in 1940.

As “The Liars Bend Low” progresses the music grows darker and heavier culminating in the awesome “Die-Sect”. An eerie sample from Twin Peakssets the scene for a brooding intro that recalls the subdued powerof Kowloon Walled City. The sparse clean guitar lines soon give way to crushing riffs that still maintain the haunting grandeur of the quieter passages. 

Although there are obvious influences to Pyreship’s sound, the band inject enough of their own personality and imbue these songs with a hefty emotional weight that makes them stand out from the crowd. “The Liars Bend Low” is a debut brimming with potential for a glowing future. 

“The Liars Bend Low” is available digitally hereand on vinyl here

Band info: facebook

FFO: KowloonWalled City, Baroness, ISIS (the band), AliceIn Chains