The Rock Blogger

Zebulon Pike . II: The Deafening Twilight . 2006. 4 stars .

A brilliant album from this underwritten Minnesota band. II: The Deafening Twilight is the epitome of progressive metal, somehow managing to capture the crushing bass rhythms and distortion of doom while still thundering forward with epically technical energy. Zubulon Pike are as awe-inspiring as post metal acts like Pelican or The Russian Circles, but they sound like they are having the most fun, changing tempos and reveling in fuzzed out riffs across these 5 monstrous songs, the longest being the 20 minute "Ashes of Xerxes, Breath of Titan".

The captivating pacing of this album is reason enough to give it a spin, as wiry guitar riffs spiral in tense, climatic cycles, evoking the dark astral sides of Isis and even Tool. There’s no vocals though, this is strictly an instrumental affair, making it a perfect metal album for post rock fans fond of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.

Overall, a wickedly fast and complex effort that is able to maintain direction and energy across its psychedelic marathons. The album’s cataclysmic sound might become emotionally draining across its hour plus duration, so come into this album prepared for long and immersing trip.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008 at 9:14 pm and is filed under Reviews, Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.