Bloodiest – Descent

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Bloodiest are seven musicians drawn from various underground Chicago-based rock/metal bands who are already carving a name for themselves for producing impressively complex, epic tracks, quickly getting a record deal with Relapse Records and luring noted producer Sanford Parker behind the desk. After taking what seems like an age to get going, opening track Fallen is the kind of droning post-metal which has become a standard part of the genre, but ths is the only time Bloodiest do anything typical. Ending in strangled screams giving way brilliantly and unexpectedly to Spanish guitar, the abrupt switch to Coh is the first sign Descent is not going to be an ordinary album. The Spanish guitar motif lasts for the full three-minutes of Coh before drifting straight into Pastures via a much more conventional segue. Vocals throughout the album are sparing generally allowing the music to create the mood. Eleven-minute epic Dead Inside is so absorbing it goes by in an instant and at the end comes the first pause since the start of Fallen. The chanting nine-minutes of Slave Rule build very slowly all the way to the end, but which point it’s reached a whirlwind of post-metal electric guitars leading straight into Obituary, which returns full circle to the lead riff from Fallen and takes it further with harsher vocals and more frantic rhythms. The music is mostly written by ex-Sterling band-mates Eric Chaleff (guitar) and Tony Lazzara (drums, also ex-Atombombpocketknife and Follows), with lyrics added by Yakuza vocalist Bruce Lamont and could arguably represent the creative peak of all three men. Even as early as April, Descent could very easily be a lock for end of year lists right across the metal community. It’s the first truly stunning piece of work of 2011.

Written by Andy Lye
More: 2011, Albums, Post Rock/Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Bloodiest