The Atlas Moth - A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky

Release Date: October 6th, 2009
Label: Candlelight Records

TRACK LISTING

1.  A Night In Venus' Arms...
2.  A Glorified Piece of Blue-Sky
3.  Grey Wolves
4.  Our Sun, Our Saviour
5.  Extraordinary Claims Require
     Extraordinary Evidence
6.  One Amongst the Wheat Fields
7.  Jump Room to Orion
8.  ...Leads to a Lifetime on Mercury

Total playing time:  49:57

July 2, 2010

Reviewer: Roswell47

Have you ever noticed that when Taco Bell creates a "new" menu item it's usually just a random combination of the same ingredients they've been using for years?  For example, wrapping a crunchy taco inside a bean-coated flour tortilla is somehow considered something "new."  Yet, the new item usually seems enticing enough that you try it anyway.  And who really cares that it's only slightly new due to the fact that it consists of the same old ingredients?  It's still satisfying and tastes good enough that you will probably end up coming back for more.

Chicago's The Atlas Moth combines an assortment of musical ingredients in an attempt to create something fresh.  In a similar fashion to the Taco Bell menu item, you have heard each of these musical ingredients plenty of times before, but not quite in this combination.  Their music is tasty and satisfying even if you can spot their influences with relative ease.  The Atlas Moth's first full length, A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky,  builds its basic foundation with Neurosis / Isis worship.  However, other ingredients sprinkled throughout the songs keep the album from sounding like a total clone.  The vocal style varies amongst an Isis-style growl / clean singing combo, a black metal screech, and the occasional Torche-style vocal melody.  The vocal styles all work very well with the music, although after a while the blackened screams can be too grating for my taste.  It doesn't help that the black metal vocals are used frequently throughout the album either.  The music itself also draws heavily from Isis with delay-soaked guitar parts and rumbling drums.  However, doomy sludge riffs and bluesy guitar solos give the songs a little distance from the Isis sound at times.  The drums are particularly impressive with their excellent organic tone.  The drummer's toms sound enormous.  He stays "busy" behind the kit even when the music is droning along, helping retain the listener's interest during some otherwise simple parts. 

A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky has the feel of a concept album.  It is bookended by the ellipsis-happy tracks "A Night in Venus' Arms..." and "...Leads to a Lifetime of Mercury."  Ambient noise appears between each of the album's tracks connecting the songs to each other and giving the album the feel of one long piece of music.  Unfortunately, the sounds between the tracks do little to create any kind of atmosphere and end up essentially wasting a dozen minutes of the listener's time altogether.  The intro to "Jump Room to Orion" is an exception as it really sets the mood before the entrance of spacey, echoing guitars.  The rest of the track continues with this atmosphere and proves to be one of the album's highlights along with the following track, album closer, "...Leads to a Lifetime of Mercury."  It seems that The Atlas Moth saves its two best songs for last, closing the album with a one-two punch.  There are moments of true excellence earlier in the album like the dissonant guitar harmonies in "Our Sun, Our Saviour," the cool outro riff and odd outro solo in "One Amongst the Wheat Fields," and the rolling flow of the drums in "Grey Wolves" and "A Glorified Piece of Blue Sky."  While the whole album is solid and enjoyable, moments of true brilliance only appear upon occasion, excepting the last two tracks which are consistently awe inspiring.  In the future, if this band makes a consistently excellent album instead of an album that is just peppered with truly inspired moments, they are going to be extremely impressive. 

The Atlas Moth actually sounds like a band that would be more at home on Hydra Head or Southern Lord rather than Candlelight.  With all of the Isis / sludge / doom comparisons mentioned above, this band might seem like a metal hipster's wet dream.  While that statement may hold some truth, it would be unfair to dismiss The Atlas Moth as just another band in the so-called "beard metal" scene.  Their influences may be fairly obvious, but at least the band is trying to combine these inspirations in new ways.  Hopefully as the band continues to develop, its sound will become even more distinct and the members will turn their moments of brilliance into an album of consistently brilliant songs.  I have a feeling that just might happen.  The Atlas Moth is definitely a band to watch.            

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