These Saskatoon proponents of
“Pilsner-fuelled mayhem” are flat out one of the coolest bands in Canada. Getting
to see them do their thing again at the Cobalt last year was a real treat. I
don’t think Brotherhood of the Ram was out at that point, but they did play
large chunks of it, I’m pretty sure. Sticking to their instrumental ethic for
this six-track riff jamboree is a smart move. Having some guy yell overtop this
would only ruin the party. The LP has a distinct vibe on each side, starting
with a trio of swirling heavy numbers, each as untamed and expansive as the
prairie landscape, then settling down on side two for a couple of more placid
tracks (the Shooting Guns sound collides with latter-day Earth to great effect
on “Go Blind”) before “No Fans” shuts things down with a final blowout. It’s
quite a ride.
Subrosa—More Constant Than the Gods (Profound Lore)
Subrosa are a little bit magical. They’re
not a heavy metal band, but damn, they’re heavy. They’re bluesy while avoiding
of the obvious scales and structures of the genre. Only loss and longing
remain. They’re extremely Gothic, but sure as hell not “goth”. Their
violin-laced sludge trudge has a stern beauty, sort of a tar-pit-as-reflecting
pool effect. I hear them less as a metal band than the offspring of the heavier
strain of ‘90s alt-rock. Imagine if PJ Harvey, post-Rid of Me had bought bigger
amps after and got really into Melvins, or if Slint had found that interested
female vocalist and, again, got really into Melvins. This is a much louder,
more confident album than their previous album. at the same time, it’s more
brave in its willingness to whisper-sing its most intimate thoughts.
Boards of Canada—Tomorrow’s Harvest (Warp)
I don’t know from IDM or whatever genre Boards of Canada inhabits. Everything sounds like prog to my ears anyway. Tomorrow’s
Harvest, to me, is comfort music. It doesn’t try to “rock” and unlike a lot of the music I listen to,
it’s not structured to shock the listener. Spooky and meticulously layered,
each of the 17 tracks explores its little cluster of sounds for a tantalizingly
brief time before moving on to the next track, the next idea. In lesser hands,
this type of music tends to drone on for no reason than wanting to use the word
“monolithic” in the press release. The discipline here is admirable, and just
as there’s nothing very risky or jarring on Tomorrow’s Harvest, it also fit in
with my ‘playing it safe’ ethos for 2013.
Kadavar—Abra Kadavar (Nuclear Blast)
Maybe they’re trying a little too hard,
these Kadavar freaks, considering the live-off-the-floor
recording, the blown-out vocals, the beards and the aged-looking cover photo.
They’re like a new pair of pre-faded jeans. But damn, they fit and they feel
good and it’s a classic look, right? Their genius is in avoiding being an
obvious homage to any specific band. They weld together a bunch of blues and
proto-metal styles to create a retro sound of their own, same as I think
Graveyard have done. Stylistically, they draw from more sources than Graveyard,
though, colouring songs like “Doomsday Machine” and “Dust” with strokes of
arena-rock flash. Guitarist/vocalist Lupus Lindemann often sounds a bit like
Klaus Meine; maybe that’s what does it. The production is minimal as possible,
with a single guitar hard panned left, bass on the right, vocals straight up
the middle. Nailing that perfect take must have been a nail-biting process, but
the energy and excitement you can hear on Abra Kadavar was well worth it.
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