Wednesday 5 February 2014

BAST - Spectres - Album Review


Album Type: Album
Date Released: Feb 2014
Label: Black Bow Records/Burning World Records

Spectres track listing:

1.In The Beginning
2.Denizens
3.Spectres
4.Psychonauts
5.Outside The Circles Of Time

The Band Members

Craig Bryant
Jon Lee
Gavin Thomas

Review:

I am going to say this now but SPECTRES is an AMAZING album. This is my fave record of 2014 so far. Nothing will prepare you to the stunning and brutal riffs that await you on Spectres. BAST are going to destroy your world with this album with it's heavy and dangerous mix of genre defying riffs.

First track – In The Beginning – might start off like a Black Metal album though it's anything but. Bast's music is an intelligent mix of Black Metal, Doom, Sludge, Hardcore and Post-Rock and its' pretty heavy through out with sublime lyrics which portrays Bast's haunting vision to perfection. This is pure unwanted destruction at it's finest. There is a certain poetic beauty to this track despite the heavy carnage crushing things around you. Craig vocals are shouted at you with intense passion and fury that makes it even more impossible to ignore the startling vision of Bast.

Second Track – Denizens – is one of the albums stand-out tracks as it's pure unwanted Doom Metal terror through out with a hint of cool ambient Post-Rock vibes lurking through the darkness. This song shows why Bast are considered one of the best upcoming bands from the UK Underground scene in 2014. Bast prove they are not afraid to experiment with their music as they expertly move from one genre to the next with style, grace and originality. The riffs are powerful as hell and will crush you even more into submission. Witness the power of Bast in full flight here as the album only becomes even better from here on in.

The 5 tracks on Spectres range from 7 mins to 11 mins in length. As Bast deal in all things LOUD, HEAVY and EPIC.

Third Track – Spectres – starts off with a thunderous riff that instantly draws you in before Bast unleash the thunderous doom onslaught upon to your fragile soul. Spectres sees Bast at their most intense and possibly in their most straight forward song on the album as it's purely an Atmospheric Doom Metal song through and through. Jon and Gavin are immense on Drums and Bass respectively as they bring some heavy and spectacular riffs to the field. You can feel each pounding riff driving a steak to your heart towards the end. Spectacular stuff.

Fourth Track – Psychonauts – is a 12 minute instrumental epic which is my fave track off Spectres. As even with Bast not signing any creepy lyrics they are still a truly dangerous band to contend with. Psychonauts starts off with a psych/ambient based riff that slowly takes time to build the noise and atmospherics before unleashing hell on earth with epic riffs that will leave you in a hypnotic trance for days. Instrumental music at it's finest. Damn – Even Pelican would be proud to call this track one of their own.

And Bast have one more track to leave you in an emotional wreck with. And what a stunning track it is. The 10:40 minute epic – Outside The Circles Of Time – starts off with a dreamlike post-rock ambient quiet intro before subtle hints of darker based riffs starting creeping and then Craig's vocals give this track an ever more psychedelic vibe. Just wait until the 3:30 minute mark where Bast unleash hell on earth for one more epic final battle of riffs and noises that collides into a loud war of noise. This ends the album on a brilliant high. You don't know what you have just witnessed but you want to listen to it again.

The production is brilliantly pitched through out which isn't surprising since it was recorded at Skyhammers Studios which is owned by Jon Davis from CONAN. It has been expertly produced by Chris Fielding who has produced for Conan and Moss in the past. Well done Chris for making this one of the best sounding début albums I have heard in a long time.

You want more convincing to check out Bast. We love this album at Sludgelord HQ. Don't be surprised if Spectres ends up on a few of the teams best of 2014 records list. It's seriously that good.

Spectres is a brilliant début album that shows Bast are on the verge of greatness. Catch them while you can as these guys are going to be huge in the years to come.

Thanks to Bast, Black Bow Records and Burning World Records for sending us a promo to review.

Spectres is available to buy from Feb 2014 from Black Bow Records on Vinyl and Burning World Records on CD and Vinyl.

Check The Band From Links Below

BandCamp - There is a live demo available for Buy Now Download of Denizens available.

Written by Steve Howe