Man, I have been spoiling with the good riffs lately, huh? This time around, they are provided by Inner Landscape. These guys are from France but instead of playing the stoner metal that’s been pouring out of that area of the world, they downtune things by channeling the kind of agile, complex, and encompassing technical post-metal that we’ve seen the likes of Intronaut and The Ocean playing. However, Inner Landscape go much further into the progressive and jazzy influences than those two bands, while sacrificing none of the heavy and atmospheric impact of their sound. This makes 3H33 a hefty beast to grapple with, a massively moving iceberg that holds much beneath the surface.
Listen to the fourth track, “Unexpressive Fall”, as an example. This is perhaps my favorite track from the album and it’s mostly due to the brilliant bass lines on it. The tone is so metallic and echoing that it dominates the track, laying the groundwork for a lot of interesting counter-balances between the vocals and the cleaner guitars. But there are also plenty of intricately heavy riffs on this track and its general structure defies easy definition.
As you listen more and more you will come to recognize some of the melodic moments The Ocean were channeling in the middle of their career, but everything is run through this darker, more fragmented mirror that makes the sound truly Inner Landscape’s own (look out for the great vocal passages right before the track’s explosive outro). There’s even some Sumac-like experimentation and chaotic ambience lurking in the depths here, the sound becoming more abstract at key moments of the release.
We’ve got the full album premiering for you to dive into (get it) right below, ahead of its release via the mighty Klonosphere Records later this week. Make sure you click on through to pre-order this behemoth before it drops; if you’re a fan of progressive or post metal to any degree, you don’t want to sleep on this one. This album is the band’s debut, which promises great things in their future as they continue to grow.
Eden Kupermintz
Published 21 minutes ago