The Rock Blogger

Her Name is Calla. The Heritage. 2008. 3.5 stars.

The Heritage is a mini-album from a Leeds based post-rock band that places emphasis on haunting vocal performances and tense song writing as well as instrumental passages and atmosphere. The attention to lyricism, in tandem with melodramatic buildups, gives Her Name is Calla a slight advantage over the strictly musical aspirations of the competition. This is an emotional bunch whose hushed style sound somewhat similar to recent  genre-bending acts like Odawas and The Pax Cecilia. Aside from the progressive-tinged melancholy of the songs themselves, The Heritage features striking noise compositions that manipulate esoteric sounds into full-blown fits of psychedelia.

The contrast between emotional song craft and experimentation is striking and welcomed in a crowded field of thoughtless emulators. That being said, many of the epic adventures the band takes loose direction at times and meander dangerously off course. While everything from the delicate guitar work to the stark percussion is instantly compelling, the sheer weight of the work detracts from its immediate psychic impact. Given ample time to digest however, The Heritage is undeniably beautiful and deserving of repeated listens. In recognizing their own incredible potential, Her Name is Calla was not reluctant to show their ambition, even if it meant dragging down the otherwise succinct aspects of their sound. Despite its flaws however, The Heritage has enough gravity to make it a worthwhile addition to your post-rock playlist.

“Wren”

Deathprod. Morals and Dogma. 2004. 3.5 stars.

This album has the power to induce multiple nightmares. It’s cold, ambient drones washing across like floodwater through an abandoned city, Morals and Dogma pulls you into a strange landscape populated by specters and fallen angels. This is dark ambient to the core, with 4 slow-building movements stretching across 50 minutes of sullen meditation. Dense reverb, deep bass tones, unintelligable rumblings and eerie voices create an absorbing sonic environment to get lost in. While the mood is somber and the performance quiet, these pieces have a subtle, unsettling edge to them, as each droning composition burns with dread and tension. Its emotional power is intense and shows composer Helge Sten’s commitment to atmosphere. Each of these drawn out pieces seeps stealthily into your mind, giving you ample time to conjure evanescent imagery.

Given the deep impression this type of music makes on you, and its incredibly slow pacing, Morals and Dogma is an intimidating record. Its difficult to get into and the lack of sonic variety in some of the longer tracks can drag down the experience if you’re not in a completely reflective mood. That being said, Deathprod’s work is uniquely disquieting, managing to foster complete emotional engagement with great subtlety and minimalistic style. If you are willing to confront the demons living in your subcontinents, Morals and Dogma is a well-versed exorcist.

Deathprod - treetop drive 3
(not from Morals and Dogma, but its still a cool video)

Unida. Coping with the Urban Coyote. 1999. 4 stars.

Like their stoner metal cousins Queens of the Stone Age, Unida was formed out of the ashes of the mighty Kyuss, featuring the recognizable vocals of John Garcia and the sinewy bass lines of Scot Reeder. While these two powerhouses retain the same gargantuan force of their previous band, Unida is far more streamlined, bringing a straight up hard rock sound that does away with the wandering desert psychedelia of the past.

The material here is fast, catchy, and tight, delivering dense, heavy grooves and fiery guitar solos. Unida waste no time in hatching out their sound - its all about immediate gratification. This is not to say that Unida’s sole album is a shallow experinece, far from it. It just doesnt have the unique, drawn out passages that helped define Kyuss’ sound. Without the enourmous space to travel, Unida has a harder time crafting their own, distinct voice distinguishable from their lineage.

Even still, Coping with the Urban Coyote remains one of the most raw and shamelessly fun stoner rock albums out there. In fact I would go so far as to rank this higher than Kyuss’ earlier output (Wretch specifically). While it may not be another Welcome to Sky Valley, Coping with the Urban Coyote is worthy of the prestigious metal heritage. Queens of the Stone Age may have carried the post-Kyuss torch on to more prominent heights, Unida still clung to the scorched earth that was their family’s foundation - raw, pummeling riffage. Worth a second look.

Unida - live in Holland 1999.

Caspar David Friedrich, Die Winterreise (ca. 1827)
Also seen on the cover of Regnum - Schwertes Kälte

A powerful image with striking attention to detail and a mysterious lyrical feeling that comes out of that.
Black Metal artists seem to use intense winter scenes allegorically to express the existential or sublime feelings that arise through experiencing nature’s great extremes. Paintings like these also emulate their cavernous lo-fi production or the growling, chilling vocals.

An apocalyptic video from one of the most caustic post-hardcore bands around. While I still think Jane Doe is their best album, the visceral energy of No Heroes is devastating.

Still getting settled in my new dorm in Windsor. Its pretty awesome here so far, despite being really busy. I did have some time to watch the brilliant Joy Division documentary that came out last year where they show some of the band’s early television appearances. “Shadowplay” was one of the many highlights. I like the urban imagery that is superimposed over the performance, I think it really brings out the modernist anxiety within Ian Curtis’ lyrics.

“Joy Division” documentary Trailer