In heavy music, extreme metal, whatever you want to call the thing, it’s getting increasingly more difficult to be entirely original. Everything’s been done, often to death, and it’s really tough to surprise someone with something that’s never been heard before. That’s because everything’s been heard before. So for a new band trying to make a mark in a section flooded with sub-genres and participants, what’s the solution? How about just being good at what you do?
Chicago’s Beak, a new quartet made up of some members of post-rock outfit The Timeout Drawer, won’t dazzle you with new bells and whistles. Their sound is similar to what bands such as ISIS, Neurosis, Pelican (musically, of course), and the early era of screamo bands (before that genre turned to Hot Topic shit) have done for years. They have some post-metal dreaming, muddy doom, some prog, some death, and what have you. Plenty of other bands have tried this same formula, so much so that enduring new groups with these same ideas is growing tiresome. But Beak are different because they sound great and have a very real passion you practically can reach out and touch. They’re emotionally rewarding to hear, and you can tell they mean it. I’ve listened to their debut “Eyrie” plenty of times already and have yet to grow tired of it at all. That’s saying something considering how much stuff I sift through in order to find suitable music for this site.
Also, from the band’s bio, it sounds like this gathering also was built on philosophical togetherness. They claim their creation process involved, “No meat. No cars. No television. Group cooking and eating. Days without electricity.” And so on and so on. It sounds like setting up a communal setting and making sure everyone was in tune with the message was just as important as creating something heavy as hell. Perhaps that is a primary reason why these songs sound so tight, interlaced, and spiritual (not in a religious sense). It wasn’t just four guys in a room trying to make noise and out-heavy everyone else.
Beak is comprised of vocalist/guitarist John Slusher, guitarist Andy Bosnak, bassist/vocalist Jason Goldberg, and drummer Chris Eichenseer, and their first recording is conceptual in nature, focusing on decaying societies and empires, ruin, and time moving forward as the past crumbles. You certainly can hear all of that in their volcanic compositions, and producer Neil Strauch (who has worked with decidedly non-metal, yet still quite challenging acts such as Sage Francis and Bonnie Prince Billy) really captured the tension and tumult perfectly. The sound often comes off like it’s holding so much force, it’s ready to snap, and that gives the album a dangerous, quaking feel like the earth’s crust is going to burst. That’s a nice touch.
“Angry Mother of Bones” opens the door and completely detonates upon impact, with very throaty vocals from Slusher, some spacey keys, and a melody line that, at times, sounds like Metallica’s “To Live Is to Die.” “Hands Collide” spits static and has more of a hardcore approach, with punchiness and eventually some sci-fi atmospherics. “Men at Arms” takes a tumble through some Western terrain, eventually melting into lava and triggering some massive explosiveness. “Billions of Eyes” sets into a muddy groove, and Slusher and Goldberg go back and forth trading diatribes. Both forces push each other into corners, and it makes the thing that much more combative when the other guy fights his way out. Closer “The Weight and Time” is chugging and mangled, furious and fighting, leaving you a gasping mess. It also leaves you wanting more, but we must wait for that. And who knows what kind of duress these guys will make themselves endure before they get there?
I’m curious to hear how Beak evolve over the years and if they can maintain the intensity of “Eyrie.” They show a lot of promise, and as noted, they don’t get bogged down by sub-genre trappings. They rise above them and make these familiar strains work in their favor. This first salvo certainly rips a hole in your defenses, and if they keep this up, they could be a post-metal go-to band in no time.
For more on the band, go here: http://www.beakmusic.com/
To buy the album, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Eyrie/dp/B007N2SXZ2/ref=sr_1_12?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1332861586&sr=1-12
For more on the label, go here:http://www.someoddpilotrecords.com/
Meat Mead Metal 