This is the third full-length release from astonishing doom/progressive band Mar De Grises, having already achieved much critical acclaim for their previous two albums. Admittedly, this is their third album in ten years, but it’s quality over quantity as far as I’m concerned – and as you’ll see, these guys follow the same philosophy.
The band are natives of Chile; a country which doesn’t seem to boast any massive, commercial metal bands (as far as I’m aware...), instead there are some unique, dedicated underground bands who don’t feel the need to follow any trends, or play by anyone else’s rules. Mar De Grises are such a band, and the brand of doom (or post-doom as they describe it) they play is uniquely their own.
Several words spring to mind when first listening to `Streams Inward’ – vast, epic, expansive, dramatic, overwhelming... It really is quite an incredible experience! There are many different layers to the music that hit you all at once; a drifting, dream-like melody at the higher end, reinforced with a wall of keyboards, some crushing low-end chords underneath, and a rumbling bass cradling the music in the depths. Gradually you become aware that the music has shifted, almost without you noticing, and you find yourself surrounded by strange, ambient noises and eerie acoustic passages.
This is not progressive in the usual sense of the word – Mar De Grises don’t jerk from one awkward time signature to another, while throwing in a few random jazz passages to show how clever they are; instead this music creeps up on you, washes over you, and seeps into your consciousness. The progressions are rather like massive glaciers drifting and colliding on the arctic sea, slow, subtle, unhurried, but massive and dramatic nonetheless.
All this is aided by a crystal clear production, in which every instrument shines; every intertwining note can be heard. My one criticism is that Juan Escobar’s vocals are not quite loud enough, seeming slightly buried underneath the immense music. When you can hear him, his harsh, agonised throaty growl adds an extra layer of bleak despair to the soundscape, and his singing voice is melodious, mysterious and melancholy (all the m’s!). It’s a real shame I haven’t got any lyrics with my promo copy – song titles such as `The Bell and the Solar Gust’ and `Catatonic North’ are especially intriguing, and as the vocals are slightly buried, it’s hard to pick out any subject matter.
In terms of comparisons to other bands you may have heard of, it’s not easy – the closest I can get is maybe Opeth, in terms of the sheer size of their songs, and the atmospheric eeriness of their acoustic passages, and perhaps Maudlin Of The Well for their sheer creativity and avant-garde approach, but Mar De Grises really sound like themselves. For those of you who want something a little different, a musical experience of gargantuan proportions which you won’t soon forget, I would look no further than these Chilean maestros.
http://www.myspace.com/mardegrises2
http://www.mardegrises.com
