ICARIAN by VOW
Manchester, UK based experimental metal quartet VOW present their second release, which will be released by us on a very special translucent cassette tape with slipcase on September 3rd 2021.
Listen to VOW's previous record Gentle Decline to get an idea of what to expect on this release: https://vowmcr.bandcamp.com/releases
ICARIAN finds VOW pushing their sound forwards to create a multi-faceted thirteen minute opus that traverses through distinct phases and moods. The ferocious mid-section presents an elasticity in tempo and rhythm, pushing and pulling the listener through forceful, angular and dizzying performances, all enhanced by the weight and physicality of the oppressive wall of volume that fuels and empowers them. The quartet bookend their loud onslaught with melodic passages that find grace and serenity - sonically joining the dots between SUMAC, Steve Reich and Godspeed - shifting between vicious and unrelenting to euphoric and cathartic.
ICARIAN closes with a reinterpretation by Pijn drummer, vocalist and pianist All Partial (Nick Watmough) acting as a coda and stripping the track back to a haunting electronic and percussive lament. The introspective themes of hubris and more abstract ideas of social ascensionism are uncompromisingly brought forward and bared before the listener.
Formed in late 2016, VOW have been quick to impress with their intense brand of fluctuating metal and have shared stages with Bell Witch, Bossk, Primitive Man, The Body, Thou and more. VOW favour dissonance and impact by combining elements of extreme metal, post-rock, noise rock and ambient music, but reject trends and the comfortable tropes found in their influences.
Captured by Joe Clayton (Pijn, Leeched) at No Studio and mastered by Matthew Williams (Hell) at Sub Odin Studios, ICARIAN will be released on cassette and digital formats on September 3rd 2021.
Tracklist
| 1. | ICARIAN | 12:59 |
| 2. | ICARIAN [All Partial Remix] | 3:53 |
Credits
Written and performed by VOW.
Remixed and reinterpreted by All Partial.
Captured by Joe Clayton at No Studio, Manchester.
Mastered by Matthew Williams at Sub Odin Studios.
Artwork, design and layout by VOW.
