This album by progressive Brazilian metal band Piah Mater is a beast! It is a long album in minutes but the journey is more than worth it. The obvious nod to Blackwater Park Opeth means that this album is not breaking new ground but to focus just on that would be to sell what the band has achieved incredibly short.
The album starts with a melancholy introduction with female vocals that introduces the listener to the underlying theme of how the album will take shape. It is a lovely way to start an album and provides a great backdrop to what is about to come. Then it hits, a barrage of death growls and punishing guitar that has elements of complexity the more you listen to it.
online pharmacy order propecia online best drugstore for you
This first full track outside of the introduction is a beast to be reckoned with coming in at 12 minutes of proggy death goodness. Some of the changes in this song I did not think were as smooth as they could be, but this is a small criticism considering the quality of the music that follows. This band has a true understanding of how to mix brutality with melody.
Sprung from Weakness is the third track on the album and on my first few listens was easily my favourite track on the album. It is dark, it flows very well and every element they used worked perfectly together. Particularly the guitars on this track really had me coming back for more. I can imagine this song becoming a live favourite based on the guitars alone.
That the album only has six tracks does not render it any less listenable, this is a grandiose album that truly has all the elements that progressive metal fans have come to expect over the past 20 years, so this album is not anything groundbreaking but it is an excellent album of progressive death metal.
Track 4 the Sky is Our Shelter has some beautiful clean vocals and wonderfully constructed guitar melodies, although hard to get away from the Opeth comparisons on this track in particular. For me, this was the least interesting track of the album.
Earthbound Ruins is up next and it is a track that really starts very strongly with harsh vocal and a great riff, it is an epic song coming in at 10 mins, but there is very little waste of time on this track. The acoustic interludes give you a sense of anticipation of what is to come next and what comes next is excellent.
Saving the best for last The Meek’s Inheritance is a brilliant piece of songwriting. 15minutes long it is a fantastic and fitting way to end this album. The start of the song is reminiscent of great tracks of the past but has its own clear identity. It is a sprawling progressive tour de force and sums up the entire album as all the elements that made the previous songs good are in this track, melody heaviness and importantly this track really flows so well.
online pharmacy order orlistat online best drugstore for you
The individual musicianship is really on display in this song as well and shows how accomplished these guys really are.
A slow start but a very impressive finish!
Release Year: 2018
Label: Code666
Category: album
Country: Brazil
Reviewed by Roly Moore
