Brooklyn, New York-based post metal collective A Storm Of Light have just released their fourth album, Nations To Flames (Southern Lord), and upped their game significantly. Released through their new label, Southern Lord, Nations To Flames was produced by Travis Kammeyer and features guest appearances from Soundgarden‘s Kim Thayil and Will Lindsay of Indian & Nachtmystium.
For anyone who heard 2011’s As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade, this record will be a shock to the system. Gone are the rock/melodic influences; in its place is a return to the band’s heavier roots. Frontman/guitarist/keyboardist Josh Graham has said the album is “bringing back the intensity” of their debut and letting their influences show through more. And intensity is the right word. From the opening rumble of ‘Fall’ to the instrumental closer ‘The Year Is One’, there’s very little let up. The former Neurosis & Red Sparrows man, along with Domenic Seita (bass guitar), Billy Graves (drums) and Andrea Black (guitar) have created a pounding, searing, slab of relentless post metal.
Neurosis and early Mastodon are the clearest reference points, but there are plenty of other influences that can be felt through; the sludge of Crowbar or The Melvins (‘Fall’, ‘You Are The Hunted’), High On Fire‘s relentless pummeling (‘The Fire Sermon’) and even Killing Joke‘s industrial-tinged aggression (‘Dead Flags’, ‘Omen’). The machine gun drumming and raw shredding, topped with Graham’s throaty bark create a frantic, chaotic weight that reaches almost headache-inducing pressure at times.
At 50 minutes, the album could do with being a couple track shorter, but after the relative hiccup of As The Valley Of Death Becomes Us, Our Silver Memories Fade, ASOL have returned with all guns blazing. A Nation To Flames is a solid and crushingly heavy record, one that fans of their early material will feel at home in, and new ones will enjoy.
8/10
Dan Swinhoe