Release Date: January 10th 2025. Record Label: Argonauta Records. Formats: CD/DD
The Humble Collapse - Track Listing:
01. TheH
02. Black Box
03. Nuisance Grounds
04. Umb
05. Red Sea
06. LeCo
07. Never Satisfied
08. Llap
09. Still
10. Se
11. Citizens of Dunes
Members
Martyna Hebda / Guitar
Kuba Stępień / Guitar
Jacek Niewiadomski / Vocals and lyrics
Piotr Stępień / Bass Guitar
Szymon Piotrowski / Drums
Review
The Humble Collapse is the second full length album from Polish Desert/Stoner Rockers Maw who also deal in Post-Rock and Cosmic surroundings within this record. The sound is quite vibrant, progressive and sonic inducing at times with Maw superbly tapping into the Desert Rock surroundings of bands such as Causa Sui, Colour Haze and Yawning Man at times for the quieter parts of the record. However, that only tells a brief part of the story with Maw throwing their full creative weight behind a ton of HEAVY AMPLIFIER and DOOMED OUT sounds that reminds me of SLEEP, Shrinebuilder and Baroness at times.
There’s a thrilling abundance of different styles of music such as Punk Rock, Sludge Rock, NOLA and Psych Rock appearing with a menacing claustrophobic sound which elevates the whole album to quite an experimental platform especially with the vocals and progressive guitar interplays that come through superbly well on the opening tracks of TheH, Black Box and Nuisance Grounds.
Maw seem to thrive when they bring their own style of melodic and DIY based sound which has a certain Rise Above Records, Relapse Records and Ripple Music vibe if you’re a dedicated follower of the underground scene. This time round Argonauta Records is releasing this great album and it’s the perfect fit with the bands wickedly subversive sludgy Post-Whatever style that comes on leaps and bounds on the other tracks of the record such as Red Sea, Never Satisfied and Citizens Of Dune.
Maw aren’t afraid to tactically transform into a heavier Metallic sound with multiple beat-downs, breakdowns and explorations into heavier SONIC and COSMIC territory. There are moments that remind me of classic SHOEGAZE and multi-layered passages which bring a remorseful melodic sound that still retains an unforgiving Post-Doom energy which appears in the shorter tracks which perhaps allows Maw to be more dominant and OTT with their music.
Everything works so amazingly well with the lyrical content and vocals being quite distant which allows Maw to establish themselves a totally different band from the Polish underground Stoner Rock/Metal scene. The music is always engaging and quite unique with how Maw moves from one area of music to the next with that Progressive wave perhaps influenced by Science Fiction and fantasy themes such as DUNE in environments of the record.
There’s even a certain Industrial/Electronic charm that Maw employs here which makes The Humble Collapse quite a breathtaking trip which took me back to me riff-worshipping early-era Genghis Tron especially on the brilliantly weird sixth track LeCo.
The Humble Collapse is a complicated record to fully break down with Maw expanding their creative mindset across a whole range of different musical sounds and themes which still reward the listener with an epic array of instrumental passages and experimental grooves to transform their mindset with.
This record is quite fearless with its brilliantly fearless and superbly inventive attitude that should allow Maw to achieve greater recognition within the underground scene.
Words by Steve Howe
Thanks to Grand Sounds Promotion for the promo.
The Humble Collapse will be available to buy on CD/DD via Argonauta Records from Friday 10th January 2025.
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