Blackened Visions – Tracklisting
1. No Cure (For The Fools)
2. Blackened Visions
3. IMereMortal
4. Salvation
5. Dra Till Helvete
6. Mah Song (Horses Of God)
Band Members:
Simon Herbaut – guitars
Arnaud Silvert – guitars
Sebastien Tarridec – bass
Nicolas Tarridec – drums
Virgile Chaize – drums
Review:
The Lumberjack Feedback’s debut album – Blackened Visions – is influenced by bands such as Pelican and Neurosis – though that’s not to say the band doesn’t have any great ideas of their own, as they do. It’s just that it took me a very long time and multiple listens to actually enjoy this album. It takes the gloomy sludge/post-metal atmospherics that Neurosis are known for and matched against the cinematic style of doom/gloom post-metal Pelican first delivered earlier in their career.
It’s quite a complex, bleak and progressive sounding album. You are treated to traces of Stoner Rock/Metal but it’s mainly the Sludge/Doom Metal riffs that impress the most. Opening track – No Cure (For The Fools) – is the first of six tracks for the band to impress you with. Heavy slabs of distorted noisy bass-driven Sludge Metal with impressive drumming slowly create a dark mood that lasts for the duration of the whole album. The Lumberjack Feedback’s sound can be quite distorted at times that may put some people off. Stick with it though as you’ll miss out on some superb instrumental work.
Second track – Blackened Visions – is bleak, heavy and packed full of strange sounding noises that has a slight Russian Circles feel. It’s starts off rather slowly that gives the band valuable time to create a nightmarish psychedelic world drenched in almost post-black metal riffs though the band wisely return to the more familiar Sludge/Post-Metal and it’s the sound that works perfectly for them. The band experiment with their sound by adding classic Thrash style riffs. It’s something I could have done without as it doesn’t add to their sound. Luckily these kinds of riffs are kept to a minimum.
Third track - Imeremortal – is when the band finally creates their own sound as the album becomes a more exciting listen because of this. Atmospheric riffs drenched in epic doomy sounds with the band playing at a fast pace. This is perhaps my favourite song on the album as the band go for a very direct approach with their music as the riffs are played with sludge minded precision. Once again the drumming is superb through out as it gives Lumberjack Feedback a twisted nightmarish sound.
There’s nothing much different to say on the other 3 songs (Salvation, Dra Till Helvete and Mah Song (Horses Of God) on the album as they all follow the some creative path as the previous song – Imeremortal. Things do become slightly darker and progressive but the main structure is basically the same. That’s no bad thing as The Lumberjack Feedback prove they are worth giving a damn about. OK need more evidence, play the excellent track – Salvation – on full blast and wait for some heavy psych based sludge/post-metal riffs that can easily give Pelican a run for their money.
The album is superbly produced from start to finish and shows why Lumberjack Feedback is currently getting a great reputation within the Sludge/Post-Metal community. Fans of Instrumental Rock/Metal will find this album very hard to beat. Blackened Visions is an excellent album. Though I don’t think we’ve seen the real Lumberjack Feedback yet. As I feel that these guys will finally make a name for themselves on the next couple of albums they’ll hopefully release. The signs are very promising indeed with Blackened Visions.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Clawhammer PR for the promo. Blackened Visions will be available to buy on CD/DD from Jan 15th 2016 and Vinyl from Feb 15th 2016 through Kaotoxin Records.
Links:
Official | Facebook
