Album Review: Colossus – The Breathing World

Frailty within crush – the illusion of impact through dissonance and groove can so quickly be tempered by their integration into a honeycombed network of progressive, exploratory structures. What you end up with is the aural equivalent of a wire brush – thick, harsh lines that mesh to form a shape with more space than solid.

One band that falls into this category are Colossus. Striking moniker, striking sound. Labelling themselves as post-sludge, this Swedish trio have their emphasis very much on the former syllable rather than the latter. In all honesty, there is much more stoner drift in their music than they are willing to admit to. The Breathing World carries on from where their debut, Wake, left off and “follows the protagonist’s crooked journey to clarity in a surreal and mysterious but deeply human world.” Their words, not mine.

It’s actually an album that wobbles, rather than strides, into existence with ‘Yehi Aour / Wanderers’ featuring deep, maudlin guitars, jarringly mirrored by a towering vocal monotone. It soon gathers pace and strength of purpose though, becoming the proverbial rolling stone, shedding moss by the bucketload.

Niklas Eriksson’s vocal has most certainly flourished since Wake and is further assisted here by Tom van Heesch’s (Rammstein, Michael Monroe) meatier production. There is an exciting variation of tone here, and Eriksson experiments by doubling up on the vocals and pulling back from his characteristic top end to explore his full range. At full stretch, when he clutches at his upper register, his delivery does become strained but, conversely, it also provides that unique focal point that separates the band’s sound from the masses.

From ‘Darkling Root’ we are pushed further down their rabbit-hole as the pace rises to become a forceful groove, peaking with the addictive hook that marks out ‘Plumed Serpent’ and the furious cries for “Lib-er-ation!”. Here, they begin to pick up elements of Torche, early-Baroness and little riff affectations that mirror monsters like those of Mastodon and Pelican. They also begin to reveal a certain penchant for subtle post-rock exploration.

The softer souls of ‘Virgin’s Milk’ and ‘The Silent City’, in particular, are riddled with emotion as Eriksson dips down to a whisper to pull out tunes that dig their nails beneath the skin. Elsewhere, the dissolute structure that houses the rich, psychedelic pull of ‘Fuga Mundi’ stands in direct contrast to the uninhibited, roaring waves and menacing undercurrent of ‘Whetstone’.

Fans will inevitably love The Breathing World for its esoteric edge, whilst the less tolerant will struggle to accept such histrionics and yearn for more of their famously empowering groove. Colossus have some way to go to find an easy balance between that frailty and crush. What isn’t in doubt is the fact that this next phase in their development is a bold step up from their debut. Its a magnificently diverse, gloriously colourful, forward-facing, wildly introspective album.

Also online @ HBIH = http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2015/03/27/colossus-the-breathing-world/

EP Review: Colossus Of Destiny – In Lesser Brightness

Who fancies a nice, big, juicy steak?

If you’ve got your hand up then allow me to point you in the direction of Colossus Of Destiny. With a band-name that comes from a Melvins’ live album and being bona fide fans of the Relapse roster, it’s no surprise to discover that this Parisian quintet are all about the meat. With velvety-rich production, beefy drumming, fat strings and a chomping vocal attack that hits like a bloody mallet, In Lesser Brightness is a T-Rex T-Bone of a record.

It’s a beast that digs in early and signs off in style. Opening the six-track EP up with “Dismay In Empty Eyes” and its crashing wave effects, sonorous riffs and cascading toms, they cleverly strip their attack back only to build it all back up again. As a multi-part behemoth, it’s hugely reminiscent of Steak Number Eight’s progressive thunder. It is the ultimate statement of intent. Closing proceedings, the lurking melodics of the title-track and its chaotic brother, “Naked & Unbound”, are similarly brave in structure. Here, the band tug at antagonistic threads that shine a spotlight on Jérémy Le Formal’s drumming as he drives the staggering motion ever onward when it seems the songs may implode.

Conversely, their shorter tracks, like “Unleashed” and “Get Lost”, seem determined to blindly batter away with the guitars ripping out some fairly hefty sludge metal, taking them tramping down the same paths as bands like Bison B.C. and High On Fire. Deep in the mix, Guillaume Taliercio’s bass still displays a magnificent wanderlust whilst vocalist Adrien Guilmoteau has a crack at tearing off a slice of that Matt Pike snarl. Here in the record’s mid-riff the tracks lose some of their individuality as their fleshier parts tend to bleed into each other which is a shame.

A future album release should help nail down whether their intentions are to favour pace and power over a softer, more experimental touch. That opening track here suggests they do, indeed, have the songwriting nous to help them, should they so wish, build up an exciting, expansive style. Whichever way they go, it’s clear you’re going to have to bring a big plate and a sharp knife if you want to dine at Colossus of Destiny’s table.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2014/01/colossus-of-destiny-in-lesser-brightness-hellbound-records/

Album Review: Colossus - Wake

Fans of heavy-lidded rock will probably know that Baroness’ Yellow & Green double-album was their first to really divide opinion. With its softer, more mainstream approach to songwriting, many missed the bruising throb and howling vocals that so characterised their early years. Those souls may find solace in the arms of Colossus and their debut, Wake.

Hailing from Stockholm in Sweden, the three men of Colossus offer up a variety of songs that range from roared, psychedelic stoner to powerful NWOBHM melodies. Often ripped with the thunderous, stoned rock n’ roll of The Sword or tweaked to allow grungier elements in, Wake combines echoes of the past and blasts of the contemporary. Tracks like the dark, emotive aggro-beastie “Kingdoms” and the game-changing “Traitor’s Gate” burst with Orange Goblin-esque buzzsaw guitars and crushing Mastodonic reverb-loaded howls. These moody, swamp-slicked anthems are there so you can wail them to the heavens – “As cold winds chill the marrow in your bone / Just think of what you’ve done / You’ve gone and fucked them all”.

Entombed’s Lars G. Petrov adds his vocal prowess to “Pillars Of Perenity”. It’s an instantly loveable track with thunderous drumming and brutish intent; one which veers about sucking up the chameleonic heart of modern post-metal whilst keeping one foot firmly inside the Swedish death metal scene. Together with “Suncarrier”, which moves from apocalyptic bass bombast into a steady hammering home of its groove, these two monsters provide the beating heart of the piece.

On the downside and despite opening eerily with a recording of footsteps on gravel and a clichéd tyre squeal, “A Stir Of Slumber”, fails to build on the mood and, oddly for a first track, ends up being the weakest track on the whole album. It’s a cyclical rock number in minor keys that snags its dark cloak every time it returns to the verse. Niklas Eriksson’s vocal, for some ungodly reason, comes across as shaky and cringingly inspid. He fires out the lyrics here in a rapid rising then falling cadence which quickly becomes obnoxiously repetitive. At the other end of the scale, by the time we reach the splatter attack and slowly shifting mudslides of “Cloudhead” and “Fungal Gardens”, Colossus are sinking fast into gallons of overdrive and walls of fuzz. Only Eriksson’s, by now, storming vocal remains above the surface, soaring high.

The lyrical content is a bit intermittent in quality. It ranges from the mangled mistranslation “The sky gave finally way and the pieces yet remains” to Eriksson’s mercilessly repeated final fling of “Oh, great wind give me the wings to soar once again”. There are also plenty of rough edges to the mix (the flat, flabby snare and clipped cymbals are particularly grim), but the soul and purpose of the music are all present and correct.

So you may find it a bit of a patchy, back-to-front album with everything inside just continuing along an downhill road of heavy with its subtle nuances drowning in ever-increasing levels of filthy fuzz – kind of like the sonic equivalent of starting out with a pin hammer and ending up with a wrecking ball – but none of that actually seems to matter much when you hear this trio really lay down. Consequently, this is a debut album that will undoubtedly astonish (sublime) and infuriate (ridiculous) you. Put simply, if you make it past track one, you’ll find only the good and the great inside.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2013/05/colossus-wake-perennity-records/

Album Review: Arbiter - Colossus

There must be many who have never heard of Barter In Blood, or Arbiter as they are now known, as the band’s path to universal acclaim has begun in a relatively low-key manner. There’s been a series of gigs (spawning a live album), two EPs and a single over the last couple of years, so it must feel incredible for this Michigan quintet to finally set this, their debut self-recorded album, afloat amongst the oceans of high-caliber deathcore bands out there. On this evidence, jaws may just drop.

This is butchery with a difference. A carving knife approach to deathcore where so many of their peers are using meat cleavers. Colossus is crushingly heavy, and yet insanely delicate in its treatment of each instrument. Clarity is paramount and whilst the buzzsaw guitars, fathom-deep bass and blood-curdling roars gouge out great chunks, the cymbals crash with a “tiss” and the snare pounds with a “dap” or a “dop”. Not a “tith” or a “thunk” anywhere. Considering this is completely DIY (guitarist Jay Field producing, mixing and mastering the whole caboodle) the quality is uber-impressive. There are also the samples and lyrics that lie within to consider, which have been carefully selected to promote the album’s theme of “breaking free of the negativity and corruption” of the modern way of life. A quick flick through their website shows, not only how proud they are of their achievement, but that they have drawn inspiration from the works of no less a figure than Byron (recanting his words for “A Corsair’s Name”). The end result is startlingly sharp of wit, yet strong of purpose – “Swallow the shards of dreams: regurgitate nothing” (“Bringer Of The Black Dawn”); “A sudden burst of clarity, A lost rainbow of frailty” (“Conflux); “We will be beside you as you get up off the floor and we will be beside you as you unleash the vow you swore” (“Death Or Glory”).

Emerging from the hellish industrial soundscape of “Premonitions”, with its conveyor belts, dragging chains and rock-chipping picks, is like taking a breath you didn’t realize you were holding. “Deadfall” quickly clambers up with chugged strikes and speeding wrists to bellow its introduction of “We are Arbiter” right into your face. The impact of lines like “I am silence, hear me roar” leading into the beatdown are telling and the emotion comes through in spades. Colossus isn’t music for the faint of heart. You’ll hear much in the structure that has gone before but it’s the interweaving of different styles of music that most impresses – tribal rhythmic touches, the odd sharp slap of sliced sampling, a footstep into grind and several more into thrash. “Sins Of The Past” gives us a sneak peak of their rock chops with Josh Marr taking over on the kit to pummel out a regular beat and he’s back again with a modish, clean vocal for the technically adept “Conflux” to counter Connor Louiselle’s half-spat shout. Yet there’s always a spot of throat-melting doom vocal lurking behind the corner and for “We Were Bridges” Field slots in a pitch-dropped version of Louiselle’s actual vocals; a sound that the band refer to as his Viking alter-ego, Urzbegoth, a point so deep his singing approaches mere vibration. It’s cheating, really, but it is pretty shocking.

Colossus is what it says on the tin. I’m convinced that this band are utterly dedicated to the album’s values and true to their convictions – when they say “Death Or Glory” they mean it. Stick the kind of verbal onslaught you can believe in behind Satan’s own voice and a steamroller groove, and you have music that will simply flatten all who dare to stand in it’s way. Yes, jaws will drop.

Also online @ The NewReview = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/arbiter-colossus