Sometimes perusing the great mass of heavy metal bands churning out new material becomes a bit of a slog. The field of metal music is really full and the bands are just prolific as shit. This makes it hard for a band’s new material to stand out and make a memorable impression. I think that’s why a lot of people just embrace a few bands from their formative years and just hold them close. The sheer mass of material to wade through there is sometimes daunting and, in many respects, disheartening. Disheartening in the fact that a great majority of the stuff coming out is just average songs destined to end up in a wormhole of forgotten riffs and attempts at relevancy.
It is with these despondent thoughts that a band like Herod keeps me digging through the rabble of new material week after week. Never heard of these guys before this album came out. The main reason that I even gave this one an initial listen was the fact that they are on Pelagic Records. Pelagic is the label started by The Ocean’s mastermind, Robin Staps, and they are one of my favorite underground metal labels. They have an absolute stellar track record of finding new and unsung bands and giving them a forum to showcase their talents. Herod is one of these little bands that they found and I am happy to share them with you today. They are a band out of Switzerland and they seem to be in that strange conglomeration of post-metal, progressive and sludge that I find myself drawn to more and more over the years. The textures and levels of sound that these guys create is downright hypnotic at times. You’ll be able to hear the influences of Meshuggah, Isis and The Ocean running through this thing. I really hope this album does well for these guys because it is the best album to come out so far this year.
4.5 flip flops out of 5
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 