A Storm of Light is a band hailing from Brooklyn. I don’t know if they need any
introduction, but here’s a short bio for all you noobies: A Storm of Light is a
post everything band formed in 2007 by then guitarist for Red Sparrowes and
visual artist for the mighty Neurosis, Josh Graham. They feature members of
bands like Swans, Tombs, Unsane and Howl.
So far they
have released 3 LP’s and a bunch of splits, their sound could be described as
post metal…and beyond, the first record was pretty much in the vein of
Neurosis, but gradualy they seemed to started finding their own sound, the 2011
LP, As the Valley of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade got them closer
to that sound, it was a great record, much shorter songs, and much more
aggressive, with awesome collaborations from Jarboe and Kim Thayil of
Soundgarden.
Nation to Flames is their 4th record, and with this new material, they seem to
finally found their thing, much more abrasive, much faster if I can say so, and
really short songs, sometimes it seems like a hardcore record, and it’s no
surprise Southern Lord is realeasing it.
The sound
is similar to their past record, but much more dark and aggressive, with some
songs that are faster than their usual stuff, songs like Disintegrate, have a really
chaotic and fast beat that destroys everything around.
Beside the
fast stuff, the record has a really haunting and claustrophobic atmosphere, it
feels like you’re in the middle of a riot, and you’re getting smashed between
pigs and protesters. I have to say that it fits perfectly with the whole
situation that the world is going through right now.
The drums
on this record are just amazing, they are sometimes really technical but
without making the songs sound mathy and incoherent, they actually help the song be really fluid. I love the use
of toms for the beats, they just make everything sound huge and the tribal
beats give the songs a certain atmosphere and make you feel overwhelmed by
everything.
The guitar
riffs are really different from their past stuff, they tend to be more in the
vein of hardcore punk. Vocal wise the clean vocals used on the past LP’s seemed
to be abandoned, and replace by screams. Sometimes Josh Graham’s vocals remind
me of Lemmy, just that raspy bad ass voice.
With
Nations To Flames, A Storm Of Light have reached a certain level that makes
them one of the best post everything act that's still around from the first
wave. Be sure to get yourself a copy from Southern Lord and jam this thing till
your head explodes, and after that take to the streets and demolish all that
stands in your way!
No comments:
Post a Comment