There is a lot of music out there. Much more than any one person can ever experience. For example, did you know that there is an act in Saxony, Germany that takes prog metal (think early-Tesla) and stretches it out a la post-rock? It's true, and this fusion of Tesla and Mogwai is called Seeming Emptiness.
Seeming Emptiness is actually just one person, Kevin Möckel. I guess he plays all of the instruments, which seem to consist of traditional rock instruments of bass, guitar(s), and drums. There might be a little keyboard in some of the tracks.
The prog metal / post-rock fusion is an interesting mix. A song might be wandering around in a post-rockish noodling guitar manner for a while, then suddenly Möckel brings in the heavy riffing, and i have the desire to wear faded denim and whip my hair around. He's really got that power chord thing down!
The record starts with Nothing, a meandering ambient tune. Guitars tinkle in fast layers and keyboards tinkle lightly. It's a pretty three minutes of noodling.
But then we are in Apparently Forlorn, which is definitely a rock tune. Drums thud, bass thumps, and the guitars whirr angrily. In the middle, there is an ambient section, the harsh rhythms parting and the guitar meandering, while a voice, through tons of echo, sings something barely heard, perhaps in German.
The next two tracks are epically long, and kind of similar in nature. The first is Conversion and it starts with more of that ambient post-rockish wash of guitar, like something from Hammock. It builds slowly into ponderous power chord crunching. In the middle becoming a bluesy number, the guitar wailing while the drums tap lazily and keyboards drone. The guitar riff that drives this song is one that many 80s hair metal bands would have killed for! Outland is a similar tune, only with a bit more proggishness thrown in. Both of those tunes are close to twelve minutes long.
Wavebreaker starts with a nicely distorted shoegaze guitar bit and moves along nicely for about eight minutes. And finally, closer New Sun ebbs and reverbs like Ride, and i really love the bass riff here. It is a pretty good, meandering end to the record.
Möckel has some interesting ideas, and he can certainly play. This record is a must for people who like Mogwai and still miss the hair bands and prog metal of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
|
