On their debut full-length record, Glacial Erratic (Self-Released) Portland, Oregon’s Progressive Rock duo Semuta, featuring members of notable Rose City bands Burials and Dark Numbers, weld weighty subject matter, with heavy, but melodic riffs and no shortage of atmosphere and dynamics.
From the initial clockwork-like riffing of opener “Toeing The Line,” Semuta set out their musical stall. Vocalist/guitarist/bass player Benjamin Caragol has remarked that in his teens he was obsessed with Metal, before a Radiohead show opened his mind to broader sonic possibilities. This appreciation of broader sonic textures led to a fascination with atmospheric metal acts like Neurosis.
All these reference points are evident in each of the album’s five, gradually-evolving explorations of guitar and drum interplay, where Semuta glide between slowly building escalations of intensity (there’s plenty of shifting time signatures and neat, powerful drum rolls to be enjoyed along the way) and floating passages where minimal, glistening guitar and bass parts give the listener time to catch a breath.
Another relevant musical reference point might be Tool, with some of the riffs like fractalized metronomes. Drummer Ben Stoller has some serious chops and when the duo decide it’s time to let fly, they can really kick some ass (see for example the closing sequence of “A Distant Light”).
The calmer, atmospheric passages are just as effective though (especially as they very effectively give the album welcome dynamics, so the album isn’t just a riff barrage). Equally, Caragol’s melodic, faintly melancholic delivery keeps the overall impact from ever careering off into a complete Metal storm — however pummelling the riffs might get at points.
Lines like, “As the ice melts their words begin to stumble the water flows leaving empires in rubble no structures in our way. No more static we drift in its current. Glacial erratic” from the album’s title track gives a fair reflection of the weighty tone of the album. Glacial Erratic is indeed a musical world of elemental forces and a sense of civilization slowly collapsing in the midst of a storm.
Alongside the ever-present tinge of Metal to proceedings, Semuta also seem to doff their collective cap to King Crimson with their apparent delight in throwing out these spidery, multi-limbed riff equations. Certainly, for all the album’s melodic attributes, this is primarily a feast for listeners that like big, powerful (but smart) riffing that isn’t shy of branching out into new configurations at any moment.
The album’s closer and longest track “Wounds At The Stem” is fittingly given plenty of time to slowly build from a calm, almost tranquil opening sequence of minimal and quivering bass and guitar pulses as Caragol’s voice floats in the distance. Of course before the end there will be explosions as black clouds roll.
And that’s altogether what Semuta balances so well: either side of the storm and the sound of its churning centre.
Buy the album here:
https://semutamusic.bandcamp.com/album/glacial-erratic
8 / 10
TOM OSMAN