The first job was to re-acquaint myself with “Haar”, this band’s 2019 album which I liked very much. A year later “Woe Portrait” came out, which went down less well with my reviewing colleague. Such is the way of things. See that “Between the Day & I” was billed as “modern post-metal”, that’s how I remembered “Haar” – an impressive and heavy mix of moods and atmospheres.

What I also remembered about “Haar” was how powerful it was in different ways. The beginning of “Eyelids of the New Dawn” is the same, with thunderously dark and menacing metal mixed with haunting passages. This is loud, confronting metal with post metal tones. An industrial march follows, signalling the entry of “Singulars”. Technical djenty patterns are going on behind it. The sound of the chorus is reminiscent of Peter Tätgren’s Pain. It’s heavy and dark, that is until a brief moment of reflection before a customary explosion marks the beginning of the end, both figuratively and literally. “Silent Threads” take a more melancholic turn but always with a powerful and imaginative musical aura. The lyrics are dark, reflecting on emptiness and the elements: “nothing is safe, nothing, no more”. Building on this, “Earthshine” is haunting, with the vocals drifting into the air, developing in post-metal style and reaching an explosive outburst of deathly thunder before returning to hazy measured reflections. “Mosaic of Silence” takes the line of electro-djenty death metal, so the sirens are out and the world is dark. As we hit the chorus, there’s a hint of Hypocrisy about it, reinforced by the unremitting heaviness.

“Shadows exhale endless colours of a perfect wreck …. Veiled is the Dying in Sorrow”, go the lyrics. Shadowy sounds accompany the steady beat of “Save Room” – surely “Safe Room” which would be more logical but the press release and album suggest otherwise. The room darkens and we are launched into a deep-sounding and technical underworld for a time. The main section resumes, sounding in its distant tones a little like Novembre and contrasting with the growling death section and creating an electrifying atmosphere. The idea of not being safe is a key theme. After a darkly symphonic intermission, the imperious djenty modern metal tones of “Versus” impose themselves on us like a lead weight. There’s not much light here, indeed much of this album is stiflingly dark. It’s “Imperial Dark”, I guess, which is the title of the penultimate track. It’s a weighty piece of djent with an electro background, a melancholic vocal line and what sounds like a choir. The structures are never simple, which can present challenges but Atlases are up for them and pull it off here on this short and voluminous track. I suspect they could have expanded it and prolonged the experience, but it’s still one of the more impactful pieces on the album. So too “Ties to Distance” strikes us in the face with its weighty atmosphere. The keyboard player provides the ethereal element while the other instrumentalists and vocalist guide us through dark territories. These territories expand to a place of wonderment and a majestic height that we hadn’t previously reached. “Ties to Distance” weighs down on us in a kaleidoscopic and impressive way, and provided a grand ending to this latest weighty tome from Atlases.

I found “Between the Day & I” less cohesive and less convincing than “Haar”. It is atmospheric, spine-tinglingly so in parts, and its shapes and layers were interesting. This album has many musical elements and concepts, almost all of the dark variety, but I just didn’t think it all fitted together all the time. It was if there was too much going on. This said, I come away with a good impression once again of this album and the band, who with their wealth of ideas go beyond post metal and similar genres, creating explosions and impressively dark tableaux.

(8/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://atlaseslfr.bandcamp.com/album/between-the-day-i