Tocsin

Tags: Instrumental, Post-Metal, Doom, Drone, France

These Frenchmen have been around since 2001, recording their demo in 2004, and putting out a few records in the meanwhile. This is one of their TWO 2013 releases; this release being on Debemur Morti Productions (great label!). It's generally a pretty solid doom + post-metal affair. Check tracks 1,3, and 4.

1.) + + + (13:50) Starts soft organs and toms, clean guitar, builds. Around 3:00 the slow DOOOOM drops before backing off into depressive melodic doom (ala My Dying Bride). Dopesmoker-style riff merges into some post-metal waters. Dooms and drones.
2.) + + (5:53) Occasionally galloping, occasionally pounding, post-metal / post-punk hybrid.
3.) + + + (10:28) Soft and moody, twinkling guitars and slow emotive drums. Falls away to sparsely pulsing bass and slow drums, builds with guitars into a droning shimmering deep headbang. Feedback play and dissonance as things start to unravel.
4.) + + + (12:51) Space synths until 2:00 when CRUUUUUSHING doom guitar synth bass combo riff slooooowly sticks a knife in you. Oooh, after 5min you realize they've been holding out on you and can play an even deeper note…awesome visceral effect. This is majestic. 8min big decrescendo and changeup, uptempo military snare with instruments building up all around it (but no bass!!!) for the remaining 5 minutes…creates a VERY tense feeling waiting for the bass to return during the long build-up, but it never does.
5.) + (14:16) Starts quiet and slowly builds up from the nothing, kinda peaceful but i'm still tense from the last song. Builds until 5min when the post-metal doom starts and we FINALLY get that bass again. Falls away to shimmering guitars at the end, an odd change of pace to end the song / record on.