These doom-droners from Sydney are psychedelic surgeons upon metal’s black heart. Like acknowledged influence Earth, they slow metal’s pulse and experiment in creating new twisted and beautiful forms. And also like Boris and other fellow exponents YOB they can be crushingly heavy.
Adrift For Days’ 2008 debut “The Lunar Maria” met with the type of critical response most bands can only dream of, and after a few listens to this mammoth, epic, dizzyingly ambitious second record it’s easy to see why.
“Come Midnight…” an album of such scope and sweep, of such enormous musical reach that it is impossible to capture in mere words. Unlike many doom-drone records where the form is key, and where the building of tension is seen as a be all and end all, “Come Midnight…” is a welcome and exquisite riposte. Every note, every sample, every scream is important in the journey. Most of the songs are over ten minutes long, but never is there a moment of rest, of superfluous musical ego or stagnation and importantly, every moment of contemplation is met with an ear-bleeding moment of cataclysmic noise.
Adrift For Days‘ songs move between classical acoustic guitar, psychedelic blues, furious stoner sludge and punishing doom metal with perfect fluidity. This all serves the mood throughout the album of questing uncertainty, slowly moving towards incandescent anger.
There is a deep and disquieting sense of loneliness, which is heightened by the expert use of aboriginal music in the intros and outros of several tracks. Chants and tribal sounding drums are heard, seeming to blow in from great distance across the desert. In fact, the band’s biog colourfully says “For best results, listen while in the throes of a mescaline binge and lost in the pitiless freeze of the desert night’’. It’s an unusually apt description of what “Come Midnight…” is trying to conjure.
If you love the lysergic grooves of Down. If you’re addicted to the “Dopes to Infinity’ of Monster Magnet. If you’ve got lost in the desolation of Earth. If you strangely enjoy the pitiless, agonizing death of YOB… Fuck it, If you just enjoy heavy music, then you must buy this album. It’s a masterpiece!
Adrift For Days – Facebook Page
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