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Northern Silence has been putting out some consistently fine music in recent months, and one-man black/folk project Gallowbraid is among the elite. The Utah musician has released his first effort in the Ashen Eidolon EP and it’s a sign of great things to come.

The current ‘trend’ of black metal meshing incestuously with ambient and folk music has not yet reached the ho-hum area of marketing yet, but with bands like this making unapologetic music in the old vein without succumbing to trends and commerciality there’s slight hope for a life underground. These four tracks are a hybrid of Pagan folk music with bright acoustic guitar passages perfectly positioned between power chords of restless majesty that reeks of black metal, yet transcends the typicality of it all with interesting and intelligent arrangements that don’t follow a standard pattern we’re used to. Main man Jake Rogers took some truly inspired thoughts and audio imagery and put them into music with what seems to be relative ease, creating an Alcest/Burzum/Stridsmenn animal that still shines over the obligatory comparisons and finally gives American black metal something to be proud of…and that has not been easy at all, save for Leviathan and Xasthur.   

All in all, it’s a winner through and through; Rogers manages to both lighten and darken our worlds within 30-minutes of music that makes an indelible mark on the U.S. scene that is usually laughable with its opaque form of imitation. I hope he sticks around a while. 
Captain Overboard, Gallowbraid, Moonlit Wake & Suru
February 18, 2011
CHRIS
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Captain Overboard - Radio Earth
I’m not sure what to make of this band. I hear Pink Floyd in an odd grunge arrangement that balances between sludge and doom metal with some mixes and matches of various other genres. To be honest the somewhat lackluster clean vocals impressed me more than the obligatory harsh deliveries. This may send caustic shivers up the band’s backbones, but I can’t help but hear Gavin Rossdale from Bush in the vocals, which don’t necessarily make it bad; in fact, it’s basically what saves the songs for me.

The music is something of a spacey progressive rock that never really finds its ground. There’s some good rock and sludge elements within these tracks, but the standout for me would have to be “Shut My Eyes” which carries the most weight and meat. I don’t think it’s a bad demo, but it certainly can be built upon in different areas. I understand well the need and want to make something viable and interesting, but there’s seemingly too much going on here for me to grasp one element and hold it for very long. It’s almost too clustered. As I said, the vocals are what saved it for me.  
Moonlit Wake - Demo 2010
Release Date:  October 10, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Enduring Faith  2.  Twilight  3.  Nocturnal Comfort  4.  Moonlit Wake      -    Total playing time:  19:08
One-man project of Virginian black ambient/shoegaze called Moonlit Wake rises to attempt to impress the masses with slow, somber blackness housed in a template of beauty that is almost romantic and sentimental in its simplicity.

The demo is four tracks of wonderful music that I would hasten to label straight black metal, but, alas, we tag it as such because it has the elements…I guess. I certainly hear Les Discrets type shoegaze in here, but don’t let that deter you from discovering and coveting some truly magical music. I can’t say enough how beautiful I think this music is and just how much of an impression it’s made on me. I can feel the emotional turmoil and trepidation of soul in the tracks, or at least that’s what I get out of them. While there are moments of electric guitar wonder, and they are just as potent as the moody slower areas, the meandering through melancholy that’s distinct and pregnant throughout is illuminating, especially in “Moonlit Wake” which actually started to pull me in so deep that I found myself overwhelmed…and that rarely happens for me.

The atmospheric background is so enticing and surreal at times that I’m not sure how to really gauge my feelings about it other than to say this is five-stars across the board for originality, engagement, brilliance, charm and heaviness in all the right areas.

Don’t stop now, James…please create more!      
Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon
Release Date:  September 17, 2010
Label:  Northern Silence Records

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Ashen Eidolon  2.  Autumn I  3.  Oaken Halls of Sorrow  4.  Autumn II      -    Total playing time: 31:39
For a copy of Ashen Eidolon contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above) or buy here: THE END RECORDS
Release Date:  July 28, 2010
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.  Skullabye  2.  Shut my Eyes  3.  The Extinction of Suffering
-    Total playing time: 11:00
DOWNLOAD Radio Earth FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).
DOWNLOAD Demo 2010 FREE from the band's myspace page (click on link above).
Suru - Demo ‘09
Spain’s Suru plays a brand of gothic death metal that immediately doesn’t live up to its tag. The opening track titled “Death Angel” certainly rings out the brutality in spades with some crunching guitars and slamming drums that are only bested by the harsh, angry vocals that seem to just consistently hurl volatility through the air. However, just when you’re grooving in this dark and brutal sphere you’re creating, the rug is pulled out from under you and a clean vocal emerges that is actually quite harmonious and surprisingly on-key. This isn’t Mikael Akerfeldt, but it’s a fine effort. Now I know you might be thinking what I thought: mall metal, typical metalcore crap, etc., but this doesn’t fall into that category at all. The singer isn’t necessarily attempting to showcase some wonderfully soaring vocal; in stark contrast he’s simply channeling the feel of the song in its natural pattern, which is fine.

What got me about this demo is the last song, “Dark Passion”, which has some truly beautiful music that does seem a bit Opeth-like, even Anathema-channeled, but it’s serene and enchanting you forgive the obvious nods to the masters. I dare say I even hear a twinge of Scorpions in the guitar tone (think “When the Smoke is Going Down”), but it’s a great track overall. It’s a beautiful song that is done by a very capable death metal band, nothing more or less.

Check these guys out if you’re into death metal with some frills and detours that aren’t expected or prejudged.     

Release Date:  2009
Band Self Released

TRACK LISTING:
1.Death Angel  2.My World  3.Dark Passion
-    Total playing time:  14:47
For a copy of Demo '09 contact the band via their myspace page (click on link above)
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