Mouth of the Architect: The Violence Beneath (5/5)

Joshua's Top Five EPs for 2010
#2 of 5



Year: 2010
Genre: Atmospheric Sludge Metal
Label: Translation Loss
TRT: 31:07

I consider MotA to be one of my favorite post metal bands, and The Ties That Blind is an absolutely magnificent album. However, I thought that their last full length effort, Quietly (while still good), was a marked step down from their first two offerings, which dampened my expectation of their future output.

Confidence: Restored. The Violence Beneath starts off with the title track and goes straight for the jugular, almost as if to say "how dare you doubt us". These three original tracks are chocked full of pummeling riffs and grooves, but as on their first two albums they balance the aggression with tasteful ambiance and atmosphere, which at times add more weight to the mix than the heavier sections.

The post metal poster boys show a more emotional side of their muse with their closer. Opting for an interesting cover of Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes, converting the 80's pop anthem into a noisy yet restrained swirl of feedback laden doom.

01 The Violence Beneath
02 Buried Hope
03 Restore
04 In Your Eyes

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Year of No Light: Ausserwelt (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top Ten "Metal" Picks for 2010
#7 of 10



Year: 2010
Genre: Atmospheric Sludge Metal
Label: Conspiracy
TRT: 48:02

Having enjoyed their 2006 debut Nord, I was interested in the direction their sophomore release would take. Turns out they decided to completely drop the post hardcore element from their sound, and completely do away with vocals. Instead, they opt to take a turn towards the atmospheric sludge sound contemporaries Mouth of the Architect, A Storm of Light and others have been championing for the past few years. It just so happens that I love that sound, and Ausserwelt is an excellent representation of it. Moody and brooding, they carry you across an ever-evolving soundscape of swirling doom that eventually drifts away on a sea of despair.

1. Perséphone (Enna)
2. Perséphone (Coré)
3. Hiérophante
4. Abbesse

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Shelter Red: Strike a Mortal Terror (4/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2009
#7 of 10



Year: 2009
Genre: Progressive Instrumental Metal
Label: Sound vs. Silence
TRT: 31:23

New on my RADAR this year, but already on their second release, and boy is it a doozy.

Barely clocking in over half and hour, but with enough energy and badassery to fill an album twice that length. Very groovy, very heavy, and pretty solid on the technical side of things as well.

They're sort of like a cross between Russian Circles and Irepress, with a touch of Animals as Leaders to spice things up.

01 Strike a Mortal Terror
02 Inferno
03 This Is a Lost Ambition
04 The Moralist
05 Dejanira
06 A Confusion of Tongues
07 Last Rites for the Dying

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A Storm of Light: And We Wept the Black Ocean Within (4.5/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008
#6 out of 10


Year: 2008
Genre: Dirty Post-Metal
Label: Neurot
TRT: 62:50

Another project of Josh Graham (Blood and Time, Battle of Mice, Red Sparowes) This time exploring a similar sound to that of Neurosis (who he directed visuals for). Very atmospheric and heavy, with an emphasis on sludge. Interestingly enough, Graham has said that the album’s concept has something to do with “bog bodies”, corpses that have been preserved remarkably well in the sludge of peat bogs for hundreds of years.

While some might be turned off to his gravelly vocal delivery, I personally find it to fit perfectly with the feel of the album.

01 Adrift (The Albatross I)
02 Vast and Endless
03 Black Ocean
04 Thunderhead
05 Undertow (The Albatross II)
06 Mass
07 Leaden Tide
08 Breach (The Albatross III)
09 Descent
10 Iron Heart

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Mouth of the Architect: Quietly (4/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008
#8 out of 10



Year: 2008
Genre: Post-Metal
Label: Translation Loss
TRT: 55:38

While not as instantly likable as Ties That Bind, their 2006 offering, Quietly is a grower. It has a more subdued and contemplative tone, fitting of the album’s title. Track five also boasts a guest vocal spot by everyone’s darling, Julie Christmas, which can only ever make an album better.

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01 Quietly
02 Hate and Heartache
03 Pine Boxes
04 Guilt and the Like
05 Generation of Ghosts
06 Rocking Chairs and Shotguns
07 Medicine
08 A Beautiful Corpse

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Cult of Luna: Eternal Kingdom (4/5)

Joshua's Top 10 Metal Albums of 2008
#9 out of 10



Year: 2008
Genre: Post-Metal
Label: Earache
TRT: 60:54

In their latest release, Cult of Luna focus more on cults and nefarious religious practices than they have in their previous work. Many stark images of owls, dark woods, cover of night, and strange rituals inundate their sludge-centered post-metal compositions. It’s pretty creepy. And by creepy, I mean awesome.

01 Owlwood
02 Eternal Kingdom
03 Ghost Trail
04 The Lure (Interlude)
05 Mire Deep
06 The Great Migration
07 Osterbotten
08 Curse
09 Ugin
10 Following Betulas

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Mouth of the Architect: The Ties That Blind (5/5)

#4 Album of 2006


Year: 2006
Label: Translation Loss
Genre: Atmospheric Post-Metal
TRT: 66:07

You know those times when you’re listening to a cd, and the band does something so remarkably good and unexpected, you can’t help but grin like an idiot? The Ties That Blind is absolutely chocked full of such moments. I truly look like a moron, because I can not keep a smile off my face. Mouth of the Architect has gone above and beyond with this release. Cannot imagine how they can top this record, but dammit, I have a feeling they'll pull it off.

01 Baobab
02 No One Wished to Settle Here
03 Carry On
04 Harboring an Apparition
05 At Arms Length
06 Wake Me When It's Over

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A Swarm of the Sun: The King of Everything (4/5)

Best Metal EP of 2007

Year: 2007
Label: Version Studio
Genre: Post Metal Sludge
TRT: 23:41

The first release from this band, and it's very promising. Very heavy, and very accessible simultaneously. There's even an element of glitch electronics present, with good clean vocals backed up with good yells to round it out. Looking forward to future releases.

01 Refuge
02 King of Everything
03 A Mind Not a Mouth
04 The Grip
05 An Animal in the Shape of God
06 I Fear the End

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The Psyke Project: Apnea (4.5/5)

#6 out of 10
Metal Album of 2007

Year: 2007
Label: Lifeforce
Genre: Post Metal Sludge
TRT: 56:01

Another new blip on my radar. I avoided listening to this album for months and months, because I couldn’t get over their dumb moniker and cheesy artwork. But when I finally did, I regretted my shallow behavior immensely. Because these guys kill. Hailing from Denmark, they rise above the some-what muddled slew of mediocre sludge bands spawned over the past few years. This is an easy band to get in to, because they really convey emotion well, and also their songs are short compared to many in the genre. With most songs being between 3 and 7 minutes long, they’re a good choice for someone who likes the sound of bands such as ISIS and Neurosis, but doesn’t care to invest so much time per listen.

01 The Voice of Commandment
02 I Get Paralyzed
03 Panic
04 Creating Landscapes
05 Physical Romance
06 Dedication
07 Love Shown In a Handful of Dirt
08 Poems Written By Kings
09 Jugganata
10 Not in My Time

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Rwake: Voices of Omen (5/5)

#5 out of 10
Metal Album of 2007

Year: 2007
Label: Relapse
Genre: Post Metal Sludge
TRT: 59 :02

I just discovered this band in 2007, even though they’ve released four albums previous to this one. That’s alright with me though, because they’ve hit their stride here, with crushingly heavy riffs, vocals ranging from terrifying screams to brutal yells, and so much groove you don’t know what to do with it all. This is southern sludge at it’s nastiest. At it’s finest.

01 Intro
02 The Finality
03 Crooked Rivers
04 Fire and Flight
05 Leviticus
06 Of Grievous Abominations
07 Bridge
08 Inverted Overtures
09 The Lure of Light

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