Well, this is fairly “nice” stuff from the seaside city of Portland, Maine. It brings visions of long dusty trails through the woods to a picturesque deserted beach. There might be a waterfall encountered along the way as that is where the quartet take their literary inspiration for their name from, straight out of Tolkien’s lore. The quartet have established themselves well over 6 albums now, taking them from hewn oaks and rotted forests and have ties to the live incarnation of Panopticon, which may lead you to thinking that there are going to be plenty of folky interludes cast adrift within their post blackened craft. That’s not exactly what I found as the main factor within the folds of these 6 fairly indulgent and well thought out tracks. Indeed, it is the progressive interplay that stands out amongst the glistening guitar shards of songs like opener ‘Clarity’ that I found myself immersed in and fixated upon over numerous plays.
The blackness is found via the sharp snarling vocals of Jordan Guerette as well as sudden surges and gallops of speed but it’s the melodies that draw away from this and are actually quite sublime and catchy. The first number really gets its hooks in as the chorus, as such, hits and the whole shapeshifting style is expertly played really allowing the listener to sprawl out in their head alongside it. This is an album that unveils its nooks and crannies over repeated plays and not everything is evident at first. We are told the band’s work is “bound by the exploration of a unifying theme” and that certainly comes across in the adventurous scope that takes you very much on a voyage of discovery.
At times there’s an expected amount of naval-gazing and there’s always a danger of this sort of music becoming twee and whimsical and perhaps that is partly down to the emotions that are brought out as this is far from miserable stuff and actually exudes a warmth and joy via the sunbeam inducing guitar runs on songs such as ‘Desert Of Heart.’ Beneath the layers the band give clues that all is possibly not right, even in this ‘pleasant’ world via song titles such as ‘Survival Poem’ and ‘Poverty Hymn’ (the latter reaching dramatic heights with its particularly vitriolic strumming crescendos). It’s clear to read between the lines and realise there is a social conscious here despite lyrics not being available to read. There is definitely a darkness at its heart and even when the music is at its jauntiest and most buoyant, there is a sense of balance. At times there is almost a classic style from the meandering guitars that bridge the gaps between everything from Thin Lizzy through to Mastodon and it’s easy to see why this and previous albums seem to have gone down particularly well, appealing to a pretty large cross-section of audiences. Even to someone rather cynical about the whole conundrum of ‘post black metal’ will eventually find themselves won over by this album.
Complemented by a natural and earthy sound palette courtesy of Colin Marston and artwork that really has you gazing through the thick pines from Panopticon’s Austin Lund this is an album guaranteed to take you places as well as leaving you wanting to explore the group’s back-catalogue.
(7.5/10 Pete Woods)
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