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: Artist :: Mairu :
: Album :: Sol Cultus :
: Year :: 2023 :
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: :
: Genre :: Metal Source :: WEB/MP3 :
: Label :: Trepanation Rec. R.date :: 2023-07-28 :
: Size :: 117.65MB S.date :: 2023-07-28 :
: :
: Bitrate :: CBR 320kbps :
: Quality :: 44.1 kHz/Joint Stereo :
: URL :: http://deezer.com/album/465703585 :
: :
: :
: :
: 1. Torch Bearer 9:03 :
: 2. Perihelion 6:26 :
: 3. Inter Alia 1:02 :
: 4. Wild Darkened Eyes 5:29 :
: 5. The Scattering Dust 8:12 :
: 6. Per Alia 1:38 :
: 7. Atar 6:39 :
: 8. Rite of Embers 10:27 :
: :
: :
: ------- :
: 48:56 :
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: :
: Praise the sun! No, this isnÆt some new Dark Souls-themed :
: band, but rather the translation for UK sludge metallers :
: MAIRUÆs debut album, Sol Cultus. A labour of love that :
: started gestating before the pandemic, and finished in the :
: post-pandemic world, Sol Cultus was a mammoth undertaking :
: even before you come to its sprawling, eight song, hour-long :
: runtime and gargantuan scope. Naturally, this means :
: expectations are high, especially when the band had :
: previously been making a name for themselves on the live :
: circuit, having gigged with the likes of HUNDRED YEAR OLD :
: MAN, FRONTIERER and OHHMS. :
: :
: ItÆs a relief, then, that MAIRU more than meet those lofty :
: expectations of them, even on a debut album, with a stunning :
: blend of atmosphere, sheer titanic heft, post-metal dynamics :
: and stirring emotions û and often instrumentally. Torch :
: Bearer acts as the gateway not only to the album but to :
: MAIRUÆs whole sound, condensing much of what they do across :
: Sol Cultus into nine minutes, from CONAN-esque bellowing :
: doom, to the kind of foreboding, oppressive atmosphere often :
: found on Vertikal-era CULT OF LUNA. ThereÆs more than a whiff :
: of funeral doom in its crawling, bludgeoning approach, and :
: the band allow the full, suffocating weight of those passages :
: to bear down. :
: :
: Occasionally shimmering post-rock overtakes that glacial :
: crush, such as the final minutes of Torch Bearer or the :
: following Perihelion that unfurls majestically like :
: COLDBONES. The minimalist guitar melody in the latter is :
: intensely evocative, almost like a vision of the clouds :
: opening above a tortured landscape to let the sun back in. At :
: the centre of the album sits a re-recording of 2019 single :
: Wild Darkened Eyes, offering long-time fans a glimpse of how :
: the band have progressed since those early days. ItÆs a bold :
: choice to put an arguably less-evolved version of the band on :
: an album thatÆs until now been nothing short of stunning, but :
: it slots alongside the other cuts with ease in its opening :
: howls and caustic sludgy guitars. :
: :
: Sol Cultus is a sonic odyssey; The Scattering Dust is intense :
: and dramatic sludge, while Atar brings industrial elements :
: into its bruising fury; all this from the comparatively :
: simple opening moments of Torch Bearer, which also swiftly :
: becomes anything but. By casting everything against a :
: backdrop of atmospheric post-metal, MAIRU ensure thereÆs a :
: backbone to the album that carries throughout and holds up :
: even during the moments furthest away from the crush, such as :
: PerihelionÆs soaring post-rock crescendos. It all culminates :
: with the ten-minute epic Rite Of Embers, bringing an end to :
: the sonic journey of the past hour in a way that exemplifies :
: the route taken along the way with swells of post-rock, :
: deluges of drum fills underpinning vitriolic sludge and :
: atmospheric passages that buck and heave. :
: :
: For this to be MAIRUÆs debut album makes Sol Cultus even more :
: of a jaw-dropping accomplishment. They sound far wiser than :
: their years, with a deep understanding of dynamics and :
: progression within their songs and they successfully weave :
: emotion throughout, treating the occasional vocal passages as :
: an instrument to further this aim rather than a focus :
: themselves. Essential for any fans of cathartic, cerebral :
: post-metal. :
: :
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