Rapidly Aging is a new post-project of Shalor Howell, the guitarist for Atlanta sludge metal band Canopy. If you are not familiar with the band, it’s not a requirement to enjoy this album, but they are certainly a recommended listen if you are into sludge. You’re Not Yourself Lately (Fig On Wrist) is an instrumental album that creates a narrative voice by using samples from the 1974 film “The Man Who Sleeps.” Howell has excelled at capturing great guitar tones that ooze with a depth of feeling. This succeeds in making the emotional connection that vocals normally would in your average rock band scenario. There is pedal steel guitar layered over the song “Fleeting Moment,” adding more sonic texture to the picture the guitars are painting in your ears.
Tag Archives: bands from Atlanta
ALBUM REVIEW: Malevich – Under a Gilded Sun
There are truly many directions you can go in music by taking influences from all over and finding a sound that is respectful to all of those influences. Malevich continues to evolve this approach with their latest release, Under a Gilded Sun (Church Road Records). This nearly forty-minute journey borrows from black, death, and sludge metal with dashes of grindcore mixed in. There are a few tracks on the album that feature a build-to-climax song structure, similar to how post-metal bands structure their songs. Continue reading
ALBUM REVIEW: Insomniac – Om Moksha Ritam
Atlanta’s Insomniac brings the surreal sounds of the early nineties back to life on Om Moksha Ritam (Blues Funeral Recordings). These guys drape brooding baritone vocal lines over layers of atmospheric guitar that swell into big sludge-tinged riffs of epic proportions. On a song like “Mountain,” the twin guitar attack is a dizzying affair that accelerates in an almost Mastodon-like manner. Deceased drummer Amos Rikin keeps the cymbals crashing with enough gusto to move their hypnotic riffage with locomotive momentum. This reaches peak heaviness for these guys when harsher growls roar up from the back of the mix to accent the punchy chugs. Continue reading


