First Impressions
You have to be careful with your expectations with a band like this. Sometimes, dare I say most times, albums like these are much more interesting and respectable than enjoyable. There is absolutely a limit as to how "experimental" something can be. And to expect an avant-garde masterpiece will leave you disappointed most times.
However, there are these rare times where, despite being so strange, so against what you'd imagine goes well in a song, so overly-ambitious and a little pretentious, the result is still an undeniable masterpiece.
This album is incredible in ways I'm not sure if I can really convey with words.
As stated in my previous reviews, despite Kayo Dot being very varied with the genres and songwriting styles that they are willing to explore, there is a very consistent sound to them. Long songs without really any semblance of a structure. Incredibly strange and dissonant chord progressions that would leave even a jazz musician scratching their head, and a very subtle or extreme contrast between soft and ethereal soundscapes and absolute hellish nightmares.
Here is where all those qualities shine the brightest.
Where I think the other albums kind of fumbled was something relatively simple, the build and release of tension. Most of their songs (that I've listened to so far) take the approach of putting you on a cloud of sound, where you just kind of float there for however long they decide. This has lead to some really good pieces, like Amalia's Theme or Oracle By Severed Head. But this album treats their intricate songwriting very differently.
Every song in here is a journey. It will start off so light and ethereal, and then slowly begin to twist. When I say slowly, I mean very slowly. Maybe you'll start to hear some distortion in the guitars where there wasn't any before. Maybe you'll start to hear some dissonant note in a chord progression that was previously very lovely and calming. And then they just keep adding more and more dark elements until the songs completely explode.
This makes every single track here so damn rewarding. A good album will have A climax, but this one has five.
Another thing that is just so much better in this album for me is something that might seem a little simple and even quite silly.
Let me be honest for a second. Yes, I like very high concept stuff, I love the sophisticated and complex sounds of progressive music. I like when I'm put in space by ethereal and airy soundscapes. But no matter what, I love metal. Give me a stupid caveman riff. Chug on the open lowest string and give me a disgusting drum beat and I am happy. This album has that in spades in tandem with the smart stuff. I like that.
Let's break it down song by song.
Marathon is both a very intense and very strange song to start the album off on. It starts with a full on explosion. A cacophony that feels like it's supposed to be a prelude to the entire album's premise. After that it goes into an extremely long lull. One where we get their signature "floating on a cloud" soundscapes. But this time, they are super organic. It's all guitars and pianos, with a little bit of brass and strings.
This makes it so much more interesting and enjoyable to sit through if you ask me. You can get lost in the nuiances of human playing. And while there are some layers, you can still hear every note played.
A Pitcher Of Summer is probably the most "accessible" song I've heard from them. And it's in quotes because it's absolutely nowhere near anything you'd call accessible. But it's not a 10 minute song with nightmare screams all throughout okay? That's as much as we're going to get from these guys.
It's such a good song, and a perfect example of the slow burn I was talking about before. It starts off so soft and lovely, almost like a lullaby. Then it slowly builds, you get drums about halfway throughout the song. And then the guitars get louder, the vocals more intense, melodies more dissonant. And then you reach the ending with some of the craziest and most brutal screams I've ever heard.
They had already hooked me by that point. But then we get to the craziest song of the album.
The Manifold Curiosity is a full on epic. One I did not think this band would really have in them. It genuinely blew me away the very first time I listened to it for this marathon. Do you know how hard it is for such a weird an subtle band like this to do that?
It's an even slower build than the previous songs. But it's smart with it's builds. Since it's such a long song, it has to keep you interested all throughout. So it's almost like it's split in sections. The first one climaxes with a beautiful orchestral explosion. You get beautiful orchestration swells and an amazing woodwind solo. I think it's a clarinet but I'm not sure. The second part then mellows out again, this time using those beautiful strings as it's base. And my god, they are so pretty. Everything before the huge turnaround in the middle of the song is amazing.
Speaking of... when you get to the middle of the song, all subtlety is thrown out the window. Everything completely breaks, it basically turns into a death metal song. And it just does NOT stop. The riffs keep coming, the screams are so brutal and agonizing. And somehow it just keeps getting heavier and heavier the more it goes. There is this part near the very end where they just go into a full on old school death riff and it is so glorious. It's an absolute masterpiece of a song.
Okay okay. We got through the best song, surely they album is gonna chill now, right?
No, not really. Wayfarer is another amazing journey. By this point of the album the formula is super well established. Start very light, almost too light, build, build and build until the song completely breaks. This one is probably the softest with that concept. There's no heavy riffs nor death screams here, but when you to the titular wayfarer scream it feels so damn rewarding.
Once again, I have to shout out the whole band here. Every instrument here is from a member of the band, not some studio musicians or anything like that. They have a violinist, a clarinet player, brass players. It's amazing just how clear and organic everything sounds.
Finally, The Antique. I feel like this album had a very big threat of getting tiring the more it went on. But I was so down for another 15 minute song to end the album.
This one feels like a proper ending. We already had the biggest moment of the album in The Manifold Curiosity, so this one takes it much more calmly. It's a super smooth jazzy tune almost all the way throughout... until you get to the middle. Yet again, they make song explode in a glorious fashion. It's another heavy breakdown, which I have been so starved from with these guys. I love how much they really go super heavy here. It's a big part of their sound and why I was interested in them.
The breakdown just does not stop either. Once the death riffs are gone, you get some super light blast beats? Over this super soft guitar it's honestly insane. I adore it.
No question, no competition. This is an amazing album. It blew me away in every concievable notion. THIS is the kind of album I was wanting from them.
Ranking
The Manifold Curiosity
A Pitcher Of Summer
The Antique
Wayfarer
Marathon
Score
9.5/10
Kayo Dot reviews