Billed as post metal, this album promises a wider artistic edge with the addition of the jazz saxophone, violin and cello. The song titles alone suggest melancholy and intrigue … “Others are Gone. I Don’t Care”, “Feet in the Swamp. Gaze to the Sky”, “Overwhelmed”, to name three.

Melancholy is undoubtedly the mood of “Distance”, which lives up to its title with a faraway acoustic ring, aided by the tones of classical instruments. A dreamy vocal line is added. It’s like sitting in fluffy clouds. These clouds do darken as the instrumentals get heavier in climactic post-metal style. I didn’t feel that the journey had started though. Nor did I feel it after “Others Are Gone. I Don’t Care”, another moody instrumental which builds up but is hardly breaking down walls or expanding new worldly horizons. The quiet returns. The vocal output of “Loss and Grief” is suitably toned down. Away we go into a post-rock haze. I am reminded a little of Novembre but without the wondrous expanse. There is a thunderous upsurge towards the end but it’s as if it’s being held back in favour of the gloomy, melancholic air.

The saxophone injects a night-time mood into “Feet into the Swamp. Gaze into the Sky”. With its steady drum beat and slow progression, it is music for gazing. I like it. For the first time, there is mystery and even menace in the sound, but I’m not sure it warrants almost 10 minutes of time. Finally, a track starts heavily. “Overwhelmed” packs power and punch. It’s overwhelmed with heavy drama, stopping, twisting and turning before the intervention of a familiar quiet passage and an underwhelming finish. “Time to Sleep” gives us a dreamy and multi-layered finish. A Porcupine Tree style sub vocal provides a haunting air to a piece which combines beauty and mystery, and finally power. The nicely balanced “Time to Sleep” was the highlight of this album for me.

I accept that albums such as this are about the concept rather than physical structures, but “A Man and his Nature” doesn’t seem to go anywhere for the most part. It is a thoughtful and well executed album, and it’s pleasant but until the end it didn’t get inside my veins.

(6/10 Andrew Doherty)

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