The Pitch: Florida "brutal avant-garde metal entity" Estuarine follow up one of my favorite albums of 2018 with a new underground EP. FFO: Dendritic Arbor, Balance Interruption, Black Harvest
What I Like: Estuarine does not give a f#$k when it comes to genre boundaries. Dude is constantly bulldozing right through them. Black metal, technical death metal, crust, sludge, and even blues are all fair game when it comes to Wisdom of Silenus. Opening track "Human Gratification" provides an excellent overview of this variety, kicking off with noisey, grindy riffing before transitioning to a very punky D-beat break and then once more into a mournful, almost doomy outro. "Rapturous Overload" is my personal favorite, delivering some high octane, mathy death metal in the vein of Dendritic Arbor. Loving that sporadic drumming...and are those subtle church bells I hear in the background? As if that wasn't enough, "Life's Incessant Toil" changes gears yet again with a very bluesy guitar hook guiding us through otherwise highly macabre terrain.
Critiques: Some tracks are definitely better than others. I dig the variety, but I think there could still be a little more consistency pulling it all together.
The Verdict: Wisdom Of Silenus is definitely among the best EP's you'll hear this year; and certainly one that stands out as a unique entity. Estuarine continues to impress me with highly eclectic music that has a distinct personality and engaging approach. Keep up the good work.
Flight's Fav's: Rapturous Overload, Human Gratification
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
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