(written by Islander)
To be honest, “post metal” is an amorphous term (though maybe not as amorphous as metal genre labels such as “avant-garde” or “dark metal”). As such, it probably brings to mind different things to different listeners, in part because bands who helped spawn the term and others since then have often engaged in experimentation.
In my case, I tend to think of :post metal” as music that’s expansive, heavy, and atmospherically dark, with a tendency to build upon repeating cycles of sound, though I recognize that bands grouped under the post-metal label often sound very, very different from each other, in part because they draw upon differing ingredients from other recognized metallic genres, including sludge, doom, and black metal.
And that brings me to One With the Riverbed, a quintet from Kalamazoo, Michigan that first came together in 2017. Their discography to date, including their 2021 debut album Absence, has attracted the “post metal” label, and that will probably be true of their forthcoming second album Succumb, which is set for release on October 25th by the Dusktone label. Yet, for reasons explained above, that leaves questions about the nature of their new music unanswered.
But we have some answers today through our premiere of a visualizer for the new album’s opening track, “Infested“, for which the term “post-black metal” seems more specific.
What quickly becomes evident from “Infested” is that One With the Riverbed have drawn heavily from the traditions of atmospheric black metal in crafting their own version of post-metal, and with an emphasis on contrasts and constant change.
The song is a strikingly dramatic, multi-faceted, and dynamic one that brings to mind the musical equivalent of a high tide that rapidly surges and crashes but also suddenly recedes, or of sky vistas in which dark storming clouds race, hover, and then vanish, but storm again.
The track’s opening is immediately gripping. Backed by a martial drum-beat, the guitars roil, sear, and wail in piercing, enveloping tones, frantic and desperate in their mood, joined by the kind of equally piercing shrieks that sound like knives scarring glass.
The storm suddenly, but only briefly, ceases. After that soft and mysterious interlude, the ensuing attack sounds furious, with drums hammering, a heavy bass throbbing, and the guitars soaring and sweeping. More changes come, including riffing that contorts and screams; another softer phase that’s eerie and depressive (backed by vivid drum-beats); and a crescendo that combines wild shrieks, vivid rhythms, and electrifying guitars that gloriously spiral high.
The song is accompanied by an intriguing visualizer that brightens and darkens along with the changing shades and intensity of the music.
Dusktone will release Succumb on digipak CD and limited cassette tape editions, as well as digitally. They recommend it for fans of such bands as Envy, Wolves in the Throne Room, and Panopticon. You’ll find more info about the album, including pre-order opportunities, via the links below.
Also below, we’re including a stream of the new album’s first single, an emotional powerhouse named “Dominion“. It too creates wholly immersive storms of sound, perhaps even darker and more distressing than the song we’ve just premiered, but it too continually changes, this time bringing in deep roars along with the shattering screams, as well as a multitude of changes in riffing, yet another electrifying performance by the rhythm section, and a placid, chiming interlude that’s seductive and spellbinding.
DUSKTONE:
https://www.dusktone.it/
http://dusktone.bandcamp.com
https://www.facebook.com/dusktone
https://instagram.com/dusktone
ONE WITH THE RIVERBED:
https://www.facebook.com/onewiththeriverbed
https://instagram.com/onewiththeriverbed
https://onewiththeriverbed.bandcamp.com/