Release
date: September 07th 2018. Label: Argonauta
Records.
Format: CD/DD/Vinyl
A
New Horizon – Tracklisting
1.
I Got Drive
2.
Prophecy
3.
10-4
4.
Surfing A Landslide
5.
Love Screams Cruelty
6.
Komatsu
7.
Infected
8.
A New Horizon
9.
Walk A Mile
10.
This Ship Has Sailed
Members
Mo
Truijens: Guitar + Lead vocals
Mathijs
Bodt: Guitar + vocals
Martijn
Mansvelders: Bass + vocals
Joris
Lindner: Drums + vocals
Review
After
their slightly more serious and hard hitting 2016 album Recipe For
Murder One, Komatsu return with A New Horizon. This album sees
Komatsu return to their earlier spaced out sound. The album is super
heavy and the band have added some fresh dynamics to their music.
Mainly with the spaced out Stoner Rock/Metal parts being the main
focus of the album.
Opening
song – I Got Drive – is a progressive Stoner/Sludge Rock offering
with the heavy guitars allowing Komatsu to deliver a commanding
presence. The music drifts from psych/space rock to a heavier and
progressive style of Sludge/Stoner Rock. The vocals have a delicate
balance of clean vocals and harsher growls that the rest of the album
follows.
Second
song – Prophecy – is one of the standout songs on the album with
Komatsu playing a heavy psychedelic blend of Stoner Rock, Doom and
Sludge based grooves. The band waste no time in creating a song that
could have easily came off from Recipe For Murder One. However the
psychedelic elements means the song feels more at home on this album.
Though it’s a good style of music that Komatsu have adapted here.
Prophecy has it’s fair share of doom and gloom moments and that’s
down to the fantastic lyrics.
Third
song – 10-4 – is a more sludgier affair and is perhaps the most
standard metal song on the album with both the lyrics and vocals
struggling at times to fully convince the listener. The music is the
main saving grace here as the song feels to disjointed at times. 10-4
is the only part of the album I have real issues with.
Komatsu
return to winning ways with the rest of the album with Surfing A
Landslide seeing Komatsu embracing their Psychedelic/Space Rock sound
like never before. The trippy instrumental riffs has an ambient
post-rock/metal feel to it and is another one of the standout songs
on the album.
The
rest of A New Horizon drifts from one musical spectrum to the next
with Komatsu keeping the listener hugely entertained with the
different styles of Sludge/Stoner Metal the band play on songs such
as: Love Screams Cruelty, Komatsu, A New Horizon and This Ship Has
Sailed.
My
favourite part of the album has to be with the song Komatsu. As the
band originally released this song on their 2011 debut release. Back
then the song was more of a standard Stoner Rock/Metal song. Fast
forward 7 years and the band have given this track a more modern
sounding Psychedelic/Space Rock makeover. You can hear some
Mastodon-esque riffs as well which the original version didn’t
have.
The
production on A New Horizon is simply wonderful and this ranks as
perhaps Komatsu’s best sounding album to date. I would also say
this is the best album that Komatsu have released yet. I hope the
band carry on this style of sound for future albums. Not that I
didn’t enjoy the more gloomier aspects of Recipe For Murder One. I
always rate the Psychedelic/Space Rock elements of Komatsu’s music
as their main strength. As this allows their music to become heavier
and more direct as a result.
A
New Horizon is a must-have album and Komatsu deserve all the plaudits
and praise hopefully coming their way.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Mona
at All Noir PR
for the promo. A
New Horizon will
be available to buy on CD/DD/Vinyl via Argonauta
Records
from September 7th
2018.
Links: