The Pitch: Southern California's Nullingroots have joined with Prosthetic Records to further explore the bounds of post-black and blackgaze without falling victim to its usual tropes. FFO: Numenorean, Anagnorosis, Archivist
What I Like: If you ask me, this genre is incredibly hit and miss. The style is in vogue right now, as it were, so we're experiencing a massive wave of like-sounding artists, many of which are more or less doing the same thing. While Nullingroots don't entirely stray from the path of their peers, they are definitely one of the groups we should take note of when it comes to getting it right. When applying the usual conventions: soaring post-rock guitars, empassioned howls, driving blastbeats, and bittersweet melodies, Nullingroots do so setting a bar for everyone else. They manage to apply the tropes without ever fully succombing to them, and as a result rarely become repetetive or boring as has often been the case.
Furthermore, the band is willing to explore the usual edges of its confines; and even occasionally breaking them. This is particularly important given that the average song on this album is 11 to 12 minutes. I can't imagine sitting through that amount of time without Nullingroots' willingness to very consciously and effectively travel across the metal map in order to keep each new movement fresh and exciting. That last word gets thrown around these days, but there really are moments of this album that are positively exhilerating.
Critiques: There is still plenty of room for this band to grow. I feel like this album largely represents a mastery of what standard post-black can offer. My personal hope is that Nullingroots' next step is to abandon convention and do something completely different with the same level of attention to detail. They certainly seem capable of it.
The Verdict: Post-black goes progressive with Nullingroots' Into the Grey. I don't hate groups like Deafheaven, but I generally look for a little more oomph in my music regardless of the genre. I don't just want the artists everyone else is listening to; I want the ones that are taking things to the next level regardless of fame or audience expectations. Nullingroots are definitely one of the latter.
Flight's Fav's: Rust, Aqua, Into the Grey
-Review by FlightOfIcarus
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