Giant Squid at Myspace

I’ll be honest: The only reason I picked this album up was due to the band’s name (I love all things cephalopodic). So I was lucky when this album turned out to be awesome. Giant Squid’s Metridium Fields is an excellent effort; although it has its less than metal moments, an open-minded listener should find much to enjoy here. Both more traditional sludgy guitars and keyboards provide incredibly atmospheric drones that permeate the entire album. The keyboards are used exceptionally well, and a variety of types are used; the liner notes credit Aurielle Gregory with performing on a Moog Opus 3, Micromoog, piano, Rhodes, my personal favorite, the Hammond organ*, and several others.

My favorite track was the album’s titular song, a 21-minute epic soundscape. It’s repetitive, to be sure, but the band members keep making subtle changes in the riffs that reward close listening. I only have one complaint about this release: the vocals are terrible! I know that Giant Squid skirts the edges of being metal, but the vocals here sound like some of those faggy indie bands my sister listens to. I’m not demanding death growls, but I would’ve liked something with a little more punch. I still give Metridium Fields a high grade, though, and am disappointed that they lost their label support. As a result, their upcoming album, “The Ichthyologist,” will be limited to just 1000 self-released copies.

*Seriously, I think it’s been scientifically proven that it’s impossible for anything with a Hammond organ in it to suck. I have a record called “Freddy’s Greatest Hits” which was a tie-in to one of the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels. It’s about as awful as you’d expect, but there’s a cover of Wilson Pickett’s “In the Midnight Hour” with a Hammond organ on it that I just love.

Monday, January 12th, 2009 @ 11:15 pm Doom Metal
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