The Pitch: UK sludge and post-metal band Sonance return with possibly their finest album to date in To Possess You Entirely. FFO: Alaskan, Bast, They Grieve
What I Like: Sonance are a band that have always put their craft ahead of what a traditional audience may be expecting. They have no qualms, for instance, with spending the first two and a half minutes of their album engaging in droning ambience. Some may find this artsy and annoying, but for me it makes those first sludgy chords and raw screams of "Manipulation Domination Control" all the more potent. There's something so profoundly sad about this band's sound, and this album takes the emotional gravitas to an entirely new level.
Aside from the already excellent combination of plodding, crunchy riffs, despairing vocals, rumbling bass, and crashing waves of drums; the band also employ piano, violin, and moog (yes moog) to profound effect. It's a cascade of sorrow that surrounds you in its grief and more than once had me considering the futility of my existence. Heavy stuff... but it's these moments of pure existential annihilation that ultimately drive me to give life the finger through defiant self-improvement. This is especially true when sorrow turns to rage on the scathing "I Thirst."
Critiques: I've got nothing. This is pretty awe-inspiring stuff.
The Verdict: Easily their best album to date. I've been a fan of Sonance going back to 2014 when I happened upon them in someone's Bandcamp collection looking for Name Your Price albums; and it's incredible to see how far they have come. Even after a few releases that I found to be somewhat forgettable, To Possess You Completely sees the band entering a new epoch of artisty.
Flight's Fav's: Manipulation Domination Control, I Thirst, A Beacon Of Hope In This Desolate Hole
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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