Adrift for Days – The Lunar Maria
Release: 2010Aug05 (AUS)
Label: Self-released
Rating: 4/5
Those who don’t listen to Metal likely imagine a genre by the name of “stoner doom” to be some kind of horror-themed, apocalyptic jam band thing (maybe Phish with Varg Vikernes instead of Mike Gordon). I call it one of the highest arts in the Metal world—that is, when it’s done right. Unfortunately, stoner doom records are few and far between. While faster-paced stoner rock concepts certainly do get fleshed out by countless metal bands, slowing the music down à la Electric Wizard is a practice that I don’t believe gets enough attention. However, it seems Adrift for Days are here to lift my spirits.
The band’s self-titled debut, The Lunar Maria, is a collection of long, bluesy, tortoise-paced tunes buried beneath a thick haze of guitars and amplifiers. It follows the archetype of Electric Wizard‘s Come My Fanatics… albeit in a different way. Vocalist Mick Kaslik evokes an interesting blend of Neil Fallon (Clutch), Layne Stayley (Alice in Chains, R.I.P.), and Acid Bath-era Dax Riggs. The music, on the other hand, does not bear many similarities to any of these men’s bands. Tempos rarely rise above 70 BPM and the EQ is constantly biased towards the bass end of the sonic spectrum.
While Adrift for Days‘ sound is that of sheer magnificence, there are some areas where The Lunar Maria falters. Unfortunately, it is long-winded, clocking in at a massive 70 minutes. I love the sound, but I think the album could have benefited from some careful inspection and subsequent truncation. Most notably, “Waveform Collapse”—the eleven-minute “static and feedback” closer—could be cut out altogether. While I love drone, it is a style that needs entire works dedicated to it, as opposed to a single track on an album. I also think the Neurosis-isms should be trimmed down. While they work in some spots (pretty much all of “Along the Moon River”), the clean guitars and atmospheric segments sometimes feel out of place amidst the weedy riffs and rhythms. They don’t need to change their sound, simply refine it, which will undoubtably come as the group ages and matures.
In the ten years since Dopethrone, it’s hard to believe few similar bands have emerged. Maybe the revolution has been delayed, as Adrift for Days slowly floated over from their Australian homeland. Well they’ve landed, and I know I’ll be spinning The Lunar Maria for a while.
(You can download The Lunar Maria at your own price here)
FCC OK
Try 1, 3, 4, 6
01. Bury All that’s Chosen
02. Waxing/Waning
03. Messages Through Sleep
04. The Leech
05. Within these Walls
06. Along the Moon River
07. Waveform Collapse
Facebook
LinkedIn
Last
Twitter
RSS
Email
Youtube
