North – What You Were
Posted by POWERWHEELS on July 23rd, 2008 filed in Progressive Metal
Okay, so maybe you’re like me and you love Isis. Maybe you see “like Isis” in an album review and check it out immediately. And maybe you’ve been disappointed time and again, because it takes more than lethargy to sound like Isis.
North take their own approach to combining post-rock with metal. Sometimes, the post-rock stands out the most, especially on the brief, dark, ominous interludes. Their last EP “Ruins” had one very metal, very promising riff on the track “Nex in March”, but overall was more of a heavy, post-rock, 100% instrumental album. But they decided to go balls-out into metal territory on this one; the post-rock is there, but focusing on the heavy riffs and adding growly vocals has changed everything. The overdriven riffs sound bright and angry; I love some good harmonic interplay, and the two guitarists serve it up constantly. Empty space in the riffs and changes in tone keep the songs fresh and memorable. “Eidolon” sounds just like a Mono song before it approaches sludge-metal territory. And tell me “Falling in Perpetuum” doesn’t stand tall next to any Isis track. Yeah, the album doesn’t really sound like Isis – it’s more by-the-books, and it doesn’t flirt with clean vocals or weird song structures.
Really, this album would be perfect if they mixed it up a little more. It kicks ass and sounds great, but it’s not that creative. The song structures, especially the usual soft-loud dynamic shifts, can be predictable, and there’s barely any shift away from 4/4 time. But if you’re looking for some fresh post-metal, you won’t be disappointed with this.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:32 am
You know, I still think ruins was their best release and in all honesty, I didn’t like this album much, and for me there weren’t any amazingly stand-out tracks on it. North were better without vocals.