Album
Type:
Album
Date
Released:
26th
January 2015
Label:
Argonauta
Records
Forget
Me Not – Track Listing
1. The Silence We
Display
2. Mystic
3. Stories
4. A Million
Questions
5. In Amity
6. Footsteps
7. Sleep
Bio
Doom/Noise/Doom
metal/Avant-Garde/ambient band formed in 2011. Featuring members of
From Oceans To Autumn and Mountains Among Us.
Members
Brandon - guitars,
vocals, programming
McCllelan - bass
Helms - drums
Review:
MAGI's
debut album - Forget Me Not - is a complex sounding album that is a
very hard album to review. Not that it's a bad album, far from it.
It's an excellent debut album from MAGI. It's what to classify MAGI
as. Their music ventures from Doom, Post-Rock, Post-Metal, Drone and
Sludge for one almost violent out of body experience. MAGI originally
started off as a solo project from Brandon Adams of From Oceans To
Autumn and Mountains Among Us Fame. MAGI will appeal to fans of Jesu,
Neurosis, Isis (The Band) and YOB. Opening track - The Silence We
Display - is an emotionally wrought and challenging listen as voices
collide with dark nightmarish ambient tones. MAGI don't shy away from
playing haunting sounds and noises through out the albums 50 minute
run time. MAGI open your mind to new possibilities within the
Sludge/Post-Metal world.
You
may think you have heard this type of music before. Let me tell you
to look further as MAGI offer a refreshing take on the
Sludge/Drone/Post-Metal world. Every musical note and vocal
arrangement has perfectly been put together. It gives the album a
more refined feel to other debut albums within the genre. Second
track - Mystic - is a more straight forward affair with the right
balance of heavy post-metal/sludge/drone carnage against the more
slower and melodic ambient post-rock vibes. Though the vocals stay on
the heavier side, with the death based growls adding a more doom and
gloom atmosphere.
Third
track - Stories - sees MAGI in more reflective mood as the album
moves from aggression to almost blissful Post-Rock sounds with
soothing and heartfelt vocals to match. MAGI return to their heavy
sludge/post-metal roots on the next track - A Million Questions -
that is one of loudest songs on the album. MAGI are relentless on
this song as they unleash another heavy violent affair for you to
survive from. The instrumental work is stunning as MAGI let fly with
impressive prog technical sludge riffs matched superbly well with the
ambient noises and sounds once again. The vocals have a Jekyll/Hyde
effect where the clean based growls gives way to the more unstoppable
death based growls. Its' where MAGI start forging their ideas and
impressing the listener even more as a result.
'The
mood becomes ever more darker on the last few songs as MAGI pull no
punches by creating a more twisted and darker atmosphere to build
their music upon. In Amity - carries a chilling atmosphere where the
band mixes nightmarish drone overtones with slow-paced post-metal
sounds for one unsettling part of the album. MAGI start to experiment
more with their sound as the vocals disappear into the background and
you're left questioning where this album will take you next.
Well
for the last two songs, Footsteps and Sleep - MAGI leave the best two
tracks for last. 18 minutes of finely played down-tempo
Doom/Sludge/Post-Metal with creepier vocals and ambient sounds
leaving you in a cold, confused state. MAGI don't exactly play at a
fast pace on the album. In addition, it's a brave decision as it
gives you more time to fully experience the album. It's a complex
affair that will take a few listens to fully understand what MAGI are
all about. I still don't know, as this has been a very hard album for
me to review. It has frustrated me at times, where I wanted to give
up on reviewing it.
MAGI
offer no easy answers just a thought provoking and challenging listen
that will see them go far within the Sludge/Post-Metal scene. The
album is expertly produced from start to finish. It's loud and clear
from the start. Forget Me Not is an album with style, substance and
most of all - intelligence. Kudos to Argonauta Records for signing
another great act to their roster.
Words
By Steve Howe
Thanks
to Barbara at NeeCee Agency and Argonauta Records for the promo.
Forget Me Not will be available to buy on CD/DD via Argonauta Records
from Jan 26th 2015.
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