Roareth - Acts I - VI
Bleak and mentally changeling on the senses, Roareth from Northwest, Washington State proved to all how sonically gifted they are at the recent Seattle Doom Festival. The live performance was not only a crushing experience in a cerebral way but was also a visceral, gut wrenching explosive soundtrack to the ever-more depressing and challenging times we all live in. Roareth captured that vibe on-stage and being able to transfer that mood and emotionally consuming music in the studio like they have done on this full length album is nothing short of a captivating achievement. The line-up consists of Aaron Edge and Pam Sternin on guitars. Rachel Lynch on bass and Ben McIsaac on drums and apocalyptic, guttural vocals. As the album title might suggests, this is a six part epic but the sections melt into each other to create what is a earth-moving experience lasting 45 minutes of pummeling heaviness. I guess if I had to I could compare them to anyone it would be Eyehategod, Grief, Iron Monkey, Burning Witch and at a stretch maybe Yob but Roareth have their own agenda and such comparisons are irrelevant. This is metallic and extreme Doom driven Sludge Metal big with elements of droning sections and elongated, moaning guitar noise explorations.
The album begins with the atmosphere of barren, desolated waste-lands that put you in a tense, on the brink of a mental breakdown kind of mood before the first of many crushing riffs come flooding in complete with Ben's monstrous vocals. The use of a sample of someone who is obviously not all in his right mind creates even more tension before a nice but threatening tempo and a chugging riff change kicks the track into a swampy dirge but its all so wonderfully executed and seriously catchy in a dirty riff-rock kind of way. The tune alternates between that and subtle, quiet guitar breaks which increase the effectiveness of the heavier sections. The first section or "Act I" in other words carries on for a very quick 8 minutes, quick because it never seems like 8 minutes, again its the light and shade present within the writing that make this a irresistible opening section to the album. The sound is huge and driven by dirty yet precise sounding guitar strokes that give the overall ambiance a sophisticated touch. The next section or "Act II" is more sonic riffery, slowly building in different sections through the use of plodding guitar work and crashing drums. It ends with what sounds like a very well used and beaten violin putting out a twisted, deranged solo. To sum up, "Act II" flows on perfectly from "Act I" and you are already 12 minutes into the album but not realizing it. This kind of well composed arranging gives the recording a quality that defies its overall running time and is again, another statement of their skills as a band.
When that twisted violin slowly gives way to the next onslaught of bombastic, churning riffing in "Act III", the result is destructive and annihilating. The music takes a melodic turn with guitars harmonizing using a symphonic meets sludge metal type of technique (new sub-genre created here - symphonic sludge). Like all the parts in this 45 minute saga, it is meticulously blended together and even some drone acts could get some pointers from how this animal was created. "Act IV" brings to the doom table crawling bass lines and more vehemently industrious riffs that stop, start, crush but also move from the ambient to the adventurous. When another twisted sample of anguish ends that section and moves into the next musical cacophony that is "Act V", the following 4 minutes or so provides one of the most hellish passages on the album. The dissonant chords effortlessly swap places with brief, atmospheric interludes that only increase the anxiety filled section of music and that leads into the show-stopper which is the remaining 16 minutes.
I have often talked about how bands need to learn how to let songs run their natural course, too often songs are over-blown or too short to get their musical angles across. This last 16 minutes is a perfect example how to let a song build without getting bogged down by time-filling moments of self-indulgence. Rather than composing 16 minutes of nothing but mind-melting riffs that go around in circles, this last section of the album contains everything and more. Pulverizing riffs start the section off but it moves into a droning, ambient section that becomes hypnotic and mesmerizing and then the tension slowly builds to a climatic ending, simply a awesome way to finish what is a exceptionally well thought, well produced recording from Washington's Sludge Metal masters of the moment. I could go on with a barrage of cliches about this being brutal and blah, blah, blah but its really a album that you must check out for yourself to sample its glory at full volume. According to what I have read, its limited to 100 copies. These will surely sell out if they haven't already been sold already so hurry up and grab a copy. You will find a purchase link below, if you come up empty, please contact the band and give them the support they truly deserve. Roareth's Act I-Act VI is a 2010 essential!
The album begins with the atmosphere of barren, desolated waste-lands that put you in a tense, on the brink of a mental breakdown kind of mood before the first of many crushing riffs come flooding in complete with Ben's monstrous vocals. The use of a sample of someone who is obviously not all in his right mind creates even more tension before a nice but threatening tempo and a chugging riff change kicks the track into a swampy dirge but its all so wonderfully executed and seriously catchy in a dirty riff-rock kind of way. The tune alternates between that and subtle, quiet guitar breaks which increase the effectiveness of the heavier sections. The first section or "Act I" in other words carries on for a very quick 8 minutes, quick because it never seems like 8 minutes, again its the light and shade present within the writing that make this a irresistible opening section to the album. The sound is huge and driven by dirty yet precise sounding guitar strokes that give the overall ambiance a sophisticated touch. The next section or "Act II" is more sonic riffery, slowly building in different sections through the use of plodding guitar work and crashing drums. It ends with what sounds like a very well used and beaten violin putting out a twisted, deranged solo. To sum up, "Act II" flows on perfectly from "Act I" and you are already 12 minutes into the album but not realizing it. This kind of well composed arranging gives the recording a quality that defies its overall running time and is again, another statement of their skills as a band.
When that twisted violin slowly gives way to the next onslaught of bombastic, churning riffing in "Act III", the result is destructive and annihilating. The music takes a melodic turn with guitars harmonizing using a symphonic meets sludge metal type of technique (new sub-genre created here - symphonic sludge). Like all the parts in this 45 minute saga, it is meticulously blended together and even some drone acts could get some pointers from how this animal was created. "Act IV" brings to the doom table crawling bass lines and more vehemently industrious riffs that stop, start, crush but also move from the ambient to the adventurous. When another twisted sample of anguish ends that section and moves into the next musical cacophony that is "Act V", the following 4 minutes or so provides one of the most hellish passages on the album. The dissonant chords effortlessly swap places with brief, atmospheric interludes that only increase the anxiety filled section of music and that leads into the show-stopper which is the remaining 16 minutes.
I have often talked about how bands need to learn how to let songs run their natural course, too often songs are over-blown or too short to get their musical angles across. This last 16 minutes is a perfect example how to let a song build without getting bogged down by time-filling moments of self-indulgence. Rather than composing 16 minutes of nothing but mind-melting riffs that go around in circles, this last section of the album contains everything and more. Pulverizing riffs start the section off but it moves into a droning, ambient section that becomes hypnotic and mesmerizing and then the tension slowly builds to a climatic ending, simply a awesome way to finish what is a exceptionally well thought, well produced recording from Washington's Sludge Metal masters of the moment. I could go on with a barrage of cliches about this being brutal and blah, blah, blah but its really a album that you must check out for yourself to sample its glory at full volume. According to what I have read, its limited to 100 copies. These will surely sell out if they haven't already been sold already so hurry up and grab a copy. You will find a purchase link below, if you come up empty, please contact the band and give them the support they truly deserve. Roareth's Act I-Act VI is a 2010 essential!
1. Acts I - VI
