Sludge, drone, doom, and atmosphere...all characteristics that make up Quietly, the latest release from Mouth of the Architect. If you groove to the slow, crushing, experimental sounds of Mogwai or Isis, chances are you'll find lots to sink your teeth into here. Featuring long tracks that start slowly with plenty of post-rock and prog ambience, then deliver crushing doom metal, Quietly won't be for everyone, as there's nary a hint of melody or commercial appeal anywhere on this CD, but the power that these tunes possess is hard to ignore. The crushing title track has some inspired moments, as the huge guitar dirges and tortured screams creep up from the depths after extended passages of post-rock meandering give way to the tumultuous bombast. This sort of contrast goes on throughout most of the tracks here-the band really only has two speeds, the 'quiet' and the 'bombast', so just when you feel like they are lulling you to sleep with some lilting guitar chording or piano, massive doom riffs cascade back into the mix along with some extreme vocal screams. Though there's some impressive guitar textures going on here (especially on the wild "Guilt And The Like") too much of this release is played at speeds that are a tad too slow to hold the listeners interest. When these guys grind it out, things are pretty impressive, but their endless journeys into comaville gets tiresome quickly. Fans of atmospheric doom with a helping of post-rock and prog might want to check into it and see what it's all about.
Track Listing
1. Quietly 10:36
2. Hate And Heartache 7:33
3. Pine Boxes 3:55
4. Guilt And The Like 7:39
5. Generation Of Ghosts 10:08
6. Rocking Chairs And Shotguns 6:51
7. Medicine 1:57
8. A Beautiful Corpse 7:04
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