In the wake of Isis’s demise a few years ago, there was a sense of uncertainty that crept into the whole ‘post-metal’ scene. What had felt at one time to be an unstoppable juggernaut of colossal riffs, epic soundscapes, downtuned guitars and angry vocals seemed to be running out of steam. The remaining ‘leaders’ of the genre appeared to be treading water and coupled with a raft of copyists taking strips from the Isis/Neurosis/Cult of Luna triptych, further served to lend a sense of dilution. Had the genre peaked?
Swiss 5-piece ‘When Icarus Falls’ certainly don’t seem to think so and on the strength of their 4-song EP ‘Circles’, one could be forgiven for assuming that this is a box-fresh genre in rude health. We’ll deal with the caveats first – ‘Circles’ is of course hugely indebted to Isis and Cult of Luna, no question. We have the same lurching momentum to the songs, an inexorable ‘push-pull’ that drags the listener through each passage of weighty riffing or more delicate reflection. The band formed in 2007 and with only one full-length to their name, it’s fair to say this indebtedness is understandable given their relative ‘latecomer’ status.
The vocals of Diego Mediano are an absolute dead-ringer for Cult of Luna’s frontman too – no offence to the chap, but they’re palpably the weakest thing here. A weak, strained shout that utterly fails to add gravitas to the proceedings, they’re an afterthought frankly. Given that it’s the case for Isis and Cult of Luna also, When Icarus Falls don’t stand out on that front at all – it’s a staple of the genre and one of my issues with this whole ‘post-metal’ malarkey.
What When Icarus Falls DO have however is a wonderfully deft compositional sensibility – these songs truly build, traversing organic and naturalistic peaks & troughs across their 6-8 minute duration. Opener ‘Erechthion’ sets the tone with a stuttering, syncopated drum pattern underpinning an intricate guitar weave but it soon blossoms into something absorbing and layered.
‘The Great North’ however is the absolute highlight – forgiving the opening minute or so (in which the vocal weaknesses really are revealed), the song billows and towers in a fantastic fashion. Chord shifts are timed to perfection and the final motif which fades into a splendidly ambient passage of ebow-led melancholy is wonderful. Latter-day Isis would have killed to write something this affecting.
The strength here is not only in pinning down an absorbing melody and throwing it out with some arresting dynamics, it’s in synthesising the reflection and the aggression. Too much post-metal swings between one and the other, signalling inevitably dynamic shifts with a telegrammatic predictability. When Icarus Falls do not suffer from this, weaving the constituent parts of their songs together skilfully into a coherent, absorbing and consistent soundscape.
OK, so I’m not into these vocals but like I said, the same holds true for most of this genre. As an example of engrossing, affecting and above-all well-written post metal however, ‘Circles’ could really herald the arrival of a powerful new force. On the strength of this 28-minute release, the next full-length could see the delivery of something truly special and I’ll be very much keeping an eye out for that.
(8.5/10 Frank Allain)
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