Monday, 4 January 2016

Courage Cloak - Praise The Thaw (Album Review)


Release date: December 18th 2015. Label: Self Released. Format: DD

Praise The Thaw – Tracklisting

1.Praise the Thaw 01:47
2.In A Sea of Warm Light 04:30
3.Danse Macabre 05:22
4.Diana 06:00
5.Dust to Sea 04:59
6.This Life Absurd 04:32
7.Comfort 05:45

Band Members:

Sean Farrell - Vocals, Guitar
Erik Lipson - Vocals, Guitar
William Wheaton - Bass
Cody Rico - Drums

Review:

Courage Cloak released a debut self titled EP back in 2014 that I was very fond of. I think I may of promoted them on The Sludgelord Facebook Page back in the day but never reviewed. Well I'm not going to make that mistake as the guys are back with their stunning full length record – Praise The Thaw. An intelligent and highly atmospheric take on all things Post-Metal.

Courage Cloak stand out from the crowd by adding haunting progressive space rock passages blended with heavy Sludgy/Post-Metal sounds. The dual vocals from Sean and Erik give Courage Cloak are quite intense at times especially on Danse Macabre and Diana. The song-writing is top-notch through out as the band create highly moving songs that will surely tug at the heart strings. Songs such as – In A Sea Of Warm Light, Danse Macabre and Dust To The Sea – will appeal to fans of Pelican, ISIS, Russian Circles and at times Progressive Metal masters – TOOL.

The album has a shoegaze based atmosphere but it works in the bands favour as they unleash some heavy sludge based riffs with the spaced out sounds keeping the whole thing grounded in reality. The whole album will consume you as you're immediately drawn in with beautifully played and highly destructive post-rock/post-metal vibes that you want to hear over and over again.

This is an album I've been listening to non-stop for the past few weeks now. It's hard to believe these guys are hardly known but this album has the potential to change all that. Trust me when I say that Courage Cloak are a band you need to check out now. The production is flawless through out as Courage Cloak seamlessly blend intricate Post-Rock passages with the heavier Post-Metal riffs.

I want to hear more from Courage Cloak and I hope all future releases will sound as good as this. Praise The Thaw is a must have release. Awesome. End Of.

Words by Steve Howe

Links:

Facebook | BandCamp