 |
| Key Release: La Storia di Cannibali |
It's astounding how
often mediocre bands consistently become huge while far more interesting
artists remain in the shadows. Sure, there are the heavyweights of progressive
metal like Tool and Mastodon, but the vast majority of bright ideas aren’t coming soon to a music store near you.
Unfortunately, National Sunday Law’s work has so far fallen into that vast
majority. National Sunday Law’s sound fluctuates between sprawling post-rock
complete with GY!BE-style samples (“City Dwellers”), and what sounds like a
Baroness record played at half speed. Songs evolve over several minutes, with
dissonant guitar riffs skittering over thunderous doom-metal chords; acoustic
guitar interludes tread lightly over Derek Donley’s seismic drumming as he
maximizes the impact of each tom hit and cymbal crash. There are a number of
ideas that permeate their lyrics, including paganism and spiritualism, supported
by cave painting-esque bucks on their most recent alsbum cover and the
occult-nature song titles (“Theriocephaly” means having the head of an animal,
while “Antoillier” is Old French for “antler”).
National Sunday Law’s music has a distinctly primal feel to it, as if guitarist Darin Tambascio’s percussive vocals are the war cries of early mankind, perhaps reminiscent of fellow Los Angeles act Intronaut on their 2008 breakthrough Prehistoricisms. When questioned about the band’s themes, Tambascio stated that, “Nature, humanity and art are the closest thing we know to spirituality…humans are just like other animals, but with bigger brains.” This spiritual aspect brings to mind the works of Neurosis, and the rumbling guitars and hypnotic shouts of their 2009 debut La Storia di Cannibali support this notion with a distinctly “Through Silver In Blood” vibe. The band's songwriting really shines with things stretched out, notably during the controlled paranoia of epic closer “Preservation in Stone”. Over its eleven-minute run time, the song moves from caustic, swirling riffs to mellow interludes, evokes Red Sea-era Isis with its pummeling middle section, and ends with a delicately-constructed outro that brings the album to a calming, cathartic close.
National Sunday Law have been steadily carving a niche in experimental metal that hints at their influences but has a very distinct sound thanks to the duo’s dynamic songwriting. If you enjoy bands that blend soft and heavy elements and manage to make it all sound natural, don’t hesitate to look into any of their three releases, particularly last year’s Festival of the Horned God. They may take several listens to sink in, but National Sunday Law creates metal unlike any other that should prove quite rewarding to heavy music enthusiasts.
No comments:
Post a Comment