Esoteric Oppression

The Pitch: Another stunning sludge and post-metal soundscape crafted by the electonic-infused The Moth Gatherer via Agonia Records. FFO: The Lion's Daughter, The Fifth Alliance, They Grieve

What I Like: The Moth Gatherer's 2015 album The Earth is the Sky made me a fan in a big way. This group takes everything I love about the massive, hard-hitting sludge sound of groups like Alaskan and Cult Of Luna, and infuses it with synthy electronics that sound like a winterized version of the Blade Runner soundtrack. Seriously, I feel physically cold listening to their albums. The post-metal backing guitars, waves of massive, rolling disortion, and electronic melodies form a dense atmosphere of ice and snow. What The Lion's Daughter does for horror, The Moth Gatherer does for Seasonal Affective Disorder. It's bleak and depressive, but with a strong sense of perserverance. Esoteric Oppression seems to embrace its sour mood as an inevitable part of the human condition. This all feels approapriate when considering the band originally formed as a therapeutic response to personal loss. Victor's howls are ripe with grief, but also a defiant refusal to throw in the towel.

Critiques: "The Failure Design" has some riffs and stylistic choices that feel a little out of place on this album, or at least less interesting. Other than that, it's golden.

The Verdict: Esoteric Oppression is another fantastic album from one of the best sludge/post-metal acts you may not have heard of.  The Moth Gatherer are a sorely underappreciated band given their strong performance skills and interesting take on the genre. Grab a coat and give it a listen.

Flight's Fav's: Motionless In Oceania, Utopia, The Drone Kingdom

- Review by FlightOfIcarus

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