Samothrace-Reverence to stone

20 Buck Spin
2012

So  the pre-spin numbers say this-two tracks with a total running time just under 35 minutes and a breakdown reveals track one is under 15 minutes and track two is under twenty minutes. I don't always look at track times before playing an album, but I did this time around. So even before I heard a note I knew that I was likely going to have to be patient and I was expecting that this band to really deliver solid song structure and some varying tones and moods to pull off this album. That's a tall order and as a lover of sludge/doom/drone I set my expectations high on this style. On almost all albums I review they get at least two spins before judgement was passed. This album was no exception to that rule and actually I gave it three plays before coming to any conclusions. "When we emerged" spends a long time winding up and in the early part of the song is lead by thick yet basic drum beats. Eventually they song begins to develop some direction around half-way through. The other instruments step up and they integrate a more multi-leveled approach. The vocals are of the growling variety and truthfully they added very little to this song. The second track track "A horse of our own" is far more consistent. It opens with more build-up but eventually transitions into a slow, hard driving passage for most of the first half of the song. During the second half of the track we are treated to swirling sounds and tones that really show this bands ability to get the most out of everything they play. Not a perfect album, but certainly one with plenty of promise.