HEAVY FRIENDS: Cloudkicker - Fade

(HEAVY FRIENDS is the segment where Robby highlights the latest and greatest in the worlds of underground and sometimes/sorta mainstream worlds of heavy music.)

It's been a minute since I've done this segment, but what better way to make a comeback than with the release of a new Cloudkicker record?! If you're unfortunately not too familiar with the band, it is the musical project coming from the insanely creative mind of Columbus, Ohio's Ben Sharp, playing guitars and bass while accompanied by drummer Adam Castle. They play a style of instrumental progressive metal that never gets dull, monotonous or boring like some other acts in the technical side of metal can get. Albums like Beacons and The Discovery are consistently interesting onslaughts of progressive metal music that I just can't get enough of.

After going in a more subdued, ambient direction with last year's double release of Let Yourself Be Huge and Loop, Sharp is back at a relatively more heavy direction on his newest release, Fade. But what separates this from Cloudkicker's other heavier outings is that this is decidedly more mid-paced and introspective, not hitting you over the head with technicality from every single direction. In fact I see a much stronger influence from the worlds of post-rock and post-metal, I even heard someone describe this as a "proggy version of old Isis", and I can definitely see the comparison. If any of this peaks your interest, then stream the entire album below as well as the rest of Cloudkicker's discography via Bandcamp!



(For more metalhead fanboyisms, be sure to hit up Robby on Twitter @ClydeNut)

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TRACK: Mono - "Dream Odyssey"

I've made it a wee bit clear before that I really really really like Mono. Well the Japanese instrumental rock band gave us all a gift in the form of a new song from their upcoming double album For My Parents.

Some fans of the band's louder, more climactic pieces may be underwhelmed by this one, but I don't see any reason to, because this has just about everything I love about Mono. Somber piano parts, emotional dual guitar playing from Takaakira Goto and Yoda, subtle crescendos, and maybe the best thing this track has to offer, the gorgeous arrangements. Mono has worked with orchestras of some kind for their past two records, and on this one they will be joined by the Wordless Music Orchestra, who accompanied the band on a fantastic live album they released in 2010.

Revel in the beauty of this track below, and expect For My Parents on September 4th on good ol' Temporary Residence Ltd!



(Robby loves the Japanese post-rock, and is unashamed of it. Follow him on Twitter @ClydeNut for more music ramblings.)

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ALBUM REVIEW/STREAM: If These Trees Could Talk - Red Forest

by Robby Beck

Y'know, post-rock seems to be making a little bit of a comeback for me this year. I thought the genre to be dead for a while, with Mogwai's recent albums more-or-less abandoning the genre, and Explosions in the Sky releasing an album last year that I liked, but admittedly it was more of the same from them. I just figured that there would never be any new bands to carry on the genre to new heights and it would just fade into underground music history. But with impressive new material from Frames, Sigur Rós, and Downfall of Gaia, as well as new albums on the way from Japan's Mono and New Zealand's Jakob, this fledgling genre just might peak my interest once again.

Akron, Ohio's If These Trees Could Talk is definitely amongst the newer wave of post-rock bands that have been impressing me, their new album Red Forest to be specific. They come at the genre with a heavier angle, to the point where some might call them "post-metal". That's definitely an understandable label, as tracks like "Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur," "Red Forest" and the closer contain some pretty heavy riffage. However, I would never say that ITTCT carries the misanthropic and confrontational tone of bands like Isis or even Pelican at their darker points, because as heavy as this band can be there's always a triumphant feeling that comes into the balance. Take for example "Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur", a track I just mentioned; there are some pretty rocking riffs in that track, but also heavy effects on the guitars as they reach for higher registers as the track progresses, and the song ultimately leads up to a, dare I say it, "epic" climax.

As middle school-level as the word may be in this day and age, I think "epic" is certainly an apt description for what's going on with this album. But what's surprising is how this band can make songs with (relatively) short song lengths that can be just as much of a journey as the longer ones. You get a couple 8-10 minute epics, which make great use of their lengths, but you get some bite-sized songs such as "Aleutian Clouds". Judging by it's 3 minute length alone you'd assume it to be some kind of ambient interlude (akin to the two previously on the record), but the song contains the same highs and lows the longer songs have with, I think, similar effect.

But that immediacy brings one of my only real gripes on the album. As great as most of these songs are, I kinda miss the longer, more drawn out passages on this band's previous album Above the Earth, Below the Sky. I like that the band still maintains dynamics this time around, and ensures that it's still an essential aspect to their music; I just feel that if the quieter moments were longer and more developed, the loud climaxes would mean a good deal more.

In hindsight, I can't let that one complaint put down this record too much. It definitely gets a high recommendation from yours truly, and gives me hope for more forward thinking post-rock to come in the future.

Score: decent 8

Stream the whole thing below from the band's Bandcamp below.

FAV TRAX: Barren Lands of the Modern Dinosaur, Red Forest, Left to Rust and Rot, When the Big Hand Buries the Twelve

LEAST FAV TRACK: They Speak With Knives

(Check out Robby's YouTube page for more sweet album reviews.)

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HEAVY FRIENDS: Miroist - The Pledge

As much of a metal fan as I am, I have a good deal of reservations when it comes to instrumental metal, especially when it comes of the progressive variety. To me way too much of it just comes off as an exercise of technique and skill rather than true craft; really what I like to call "wankery". I much prefer bands like Russian Circles, who aren't "progressive" in that they aren't flashy about technicality, but the way they create vast soundscapes and a gargantuan sound while relying on dynamics more than technicality brings out a force that's far more emotional, to me, than a lot of bands that choose to be "progressive".

But it's not like you can't be technical and emotional and dynamic. One of my absolute favorite instrumental metal projects is Cloudkicker, which is a one-man DIY project out of Columbus, Ohio. Recently on his tumblr he plugged an instrumental progressive metal project called Miroist, who as recently as last month released their debut EP entitled The Pledge.

Like Ben Sharp (the mastermind behind Cloudkicker) said in his post, the EP reminds me of his project's output around 2008, but even more heavy and "chaotic" than that, to use his words. While I wouldn't call it chaotic music, as what's going on here seems pretty damn tight, I will say that I like what I'm hearing. I was initially turned off by the opening riff on the opening track "i ; Non decipies me, fortuna" because it reminded me of the recent wave of "djent" bands that some consider to be a big movement, but I consider it to be nothing more than mindless Meshuggah worship. But it doesn't take long for the track to start going through some hills and valleys. This band even lists post-rock as an influence, which definitely contributes to the dynamics of these songs. I feel like if a band hits on the same riff endlessly with no variation (like all too many of these Meshuggah-copycat bands love to do) the music grows stale and quickly. Not so with this music.


The first track is nice, but the EP really gets going with the remaining two tracks, which are longer, and to me produce an "epic" vibe that not many EPs achieve. For a project that's just starting out, I see bright things in the future for these guys if they continue down this road of being more ambitious than the average band of their style. Stream the EP below via their Bandcamp page.



(It feels like Robby's the metal contributor for YPOIW. Well, if you're interested in the genre, be sure to visit his YouTube page for some metal-related reviews)

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