Album Type:
Album
Date Released:
July 4th
2014
Label:
Self Released
Colossus -
track listing:
1.Colossus 06:52
2.Blood Eagle 04:34
3.Dust 06:33
4.Ashes 05:55
5.Heavy Hands 03:28
6.Draugr 05:23
Band Members
Brian Rucker - Drums
Nate Kotila - Bass /
Vocals
Travis Howe -
Guitars / Vocals
Review:
Vultures
At Arms Reach finally unleash their debut album – Colossus. A noise
rock driven Sludge/Stoner/Doom/Post-Metal hybrid that maybe very hard
to describe but you can’t deny the sheer volume of riffs the album
packs within it’s short 32 minute running time.
Colossus
is a heavy pounding album full of violent mood swings with a slightly
distorted crazy view of the world. Vultures At Arms Reach may take
influence from a diverse range of bands such as Kowloon Walled City,
Mastodon, ISIS and even Faith No More, but you can’t deny the sheer
scale of the whole musical landscape that the album projects. As it’s
a progressive wonderland of huge violent riffs waiting to be
discovered.
The
album opens up with title track – Colossus – that starts with a
slow ambient noise before the guitars come crashing in around you
with elements of different noises combining for a violent out of body
experience with the vocals slowly bringing your body crashing down to
reality. The volume of the music is beautifully loud. It has a real
sense of purpose and danger to it, which will make you feel uneasy at
times.
2nd
track – Blood Eagle – is where the Faith No More influence starts
coming into play with the vocals and music combining for one of the
albums standout tracks. Vultures At Arms Reach add huge strands of
Sludge/Stoner Metal riffs to give this track their own great style
and provides a knockout blow towards the end to show why I rate these
guys very highly indeed.
3rd
track – Dust – carries on the heavy noise based vibes with a song
that shows the more inventive side of the band. As they add,
industrial, based noises with hardcore vocals, which sees the band
change, shift their musical landscape once again. It may put some
people off with the band not sticking to one overall sound but it
shows this album has a wide range of different ideas for you to try
to understand. However, it has some beautifully played post-rock
sounds lurking in the background.
Travis
from the band has told me recently he is looking forward to the metal world to
“hammer them” for the 5th track – Heavy Hands – however,
before then you have my fave track off the album to contend with. The
brilliant 4th track – Ashes – a haunting Post-metal track which
takes this album to soaring emotional heights.
5th track Heavy Hands – is heavily inspired by Faith No More.
However, it features some of the albums strongest vocals and lyrical
content as it has darkly placed moral tale told with conviction. It
adds a more sombre mood to the album which carries onto the final
track – Draugr.
Draugr
brings the album to a close with industrial sounds and noise rock
driven Sludge/Stoner riffs taking you one a last epic journey that
shows what a stunning debut album Colossus really is. It is a
dangerous affair that never bows down to genre expectations and it
provides a thrilling experience you will not easily forget.
Colossus
may wear its influences to close to their chest but it is still a
thunderous epic album for you to discover. Do not pass this one by.
This is a must have album. End Of.
Thanks
to the band for sending me a Vinyl Record to review. It sounds
awesome on vinyl. You can buy Colossus on DD/CD and Vinyl from
BandCamp now.
Check
The Band From Links Below
Written by Steve Howe
