Apocalyptic visions are becoming more commonplace, likely because even if we don’t have an imminent comeuppance, we seem keep getting closer every day until the end. Fun times! But the planet is suffering, our society is collapsing, and an oligarchy practically has its fingers in our collective mouths. So yeah. The end.
Namebearer’s new EP “Industries of the Fading Sun” pushes that destruction to the forefront. The title sounds like a dream of burning skies, while the foreboding cover art also makes it feel like you’re finally losing it completely. This five-track, 28-and-a-half-minutes of darkness comes to you from guitarist/bassist/vocalist Brian Tenison (this band originally was his solo project) and drummer/synth player/vocalist Brendan Hayter, both members of Obsidian Tongue. They mix black metal with some unexpected melody turns, baking synth, and a variation of vocal approaches. Yeah, it’s brutal, and its subject matter should make that clear, but it’s not wall-to-wall aggression, and the EP is better for it.
The title track opens and bludgeons right away, howls sizzling amid spoken lines that try to ice your brain wiring. Clean singing bellows as the moodiness expands, shrieks returning and slicing under the skin, harshness expanding rapidly, ending with a final hammering. “Black Vein, Atom Drum” has screams whipping at you, darkness hanging overheard as clean singing sends morose notes, haze and melody combining and clouding vision. The playing encircles as furious howls take over, the more gentler vocals haunting, everything coming to a jarring end. “Jäätyneen Järven Uumenissa” starts in an insane pace, smoking as the shrieks slash, blasting through strangeness and drama. The playing swirls tornadically, buzzing as the speaking echoes through your brain, a synth blaze illuminating the ending. “Lumivyöry” smears with aggressive vocals, swelling clean calls slipping underneath, the playing battering with force. The pathway heads into deep murk, gazey guitars letting beams crash through fog, the guitars gathering momentum and blurring, the energy bursting before keys end things in a dreamy, morbid fashion. “Crystals Distill to New Earth” is a brief instrumental outro, sitting under glimmering synth and a hypnotic force that gradually blurs away.
The apocalyptic visions locked into “Industries of the Fading Sun” are pretty spot on right now, when misery and fear are reaching an apex. Namebearer’s members do a great job merging black metal with more ethereal colors, making this something that feels devastating musically but also kind of dream-inducing. This is a project that holds a lot of promise and offers something a little different than just wall-to-wall carnage, and where their dark ambitions go from here is anyone’s guess.
For more on the band, go here: https://namebearer.bandcamp.com/
To buy the album, go here: https://namebearer.bandcamp.com/album/industries-of-the-fading-sun
Meat Mead Metal 