DARK CASTLE VS. PALEHORSE: '90S ROCK MEETS MODERN DOOM

At this point in my life, very few records really leave a lasting impression on me. I listen to so much new music it all blends together. What I value the most are well-written songs and not so much a band's sonic aesthetic. Occasionally, though, a band will do something innovative and catch my ear for longer than it takes to spin their record. Interesting bands are who I want to hear the most.

I had the chance to see Florida's Dark Castle live last year when they came through St. Louis with Nachtmystium and Eyehategod. They opened the show. Before they took the stage, I thought they were a local band, especially considering I misread their name as either A Dark Wood or Darkened Forest. I was blown away by the raw power and sheer amount of sound guitarist/vocalist Stevie Floyd and drummer/backup growler Rob Shaffer amplified from on stage.

This heft of audio weight translated perfectly to Dark Castle's first album, 2009's Spirited Migration. When it was announced that Profound Lore would release the follow up on May 31, I was still riding high on the euphoria of last year's show and I was ready for more. Surrender To All Life Beyond Form, in a lot of ways, is very similar in sound and spirit to Spirited Migration: huge, slinking riffs hammered home in odd rhythmic meters; delay-drenched guitar runs split into what sounds like three separate amps for a layered and crushing tone; beastly vocals from Floyd and Shaffer (and guests including Blake Judd, of Nachtmystium, Nate Hall, of U.S. Christmas, and YOB's Mike Scheidt); and the same lyrical theme of being religiously present to oneself and the surrounding world.




However, the more I listened, the more I noticed something: a lot of Surrender sounds like grunge rock and even like Soundgarden. It's mostly with the guitar. The opening riff in "Surrender To All Life Beyond Form," "Stare Into Absence" and the middle riff in "I Hear Wind" reminded me so much of the intro to "Black Hole Sun" in its flange-soaked, shaky state, where the note is undefined. A lot of Floyd's riffs feel like she's channeling Kim Thayil through a period of meditation atop a mountain: the eastern scales, the unexpected minor chord shifts, the combination of lead and rhythm guitar all seem contradictory to doom metal's obsession with low, plodding chords. But the result is much more compelling and memorable.

The Dark Castle/Soundgarden comparison became completely obvious after listening to a totally different record by a completely different band from another country entirely. Palehorse's Soft As Butter, Hard As Ice (2011, Eyesofsound) starts like so many other typical doom records out there: big riffs; elongated, guttural screams; screechy feedback and songs that regularly stretch beyond the 5-minute mark (with two of the first four cuts exceeding 9 minutes). But a few tracks in, the Londoners stop on a dime and these understated, medium-tempo grooves start flowing out. All of a sudden, I'm hearing "Good Morning, Captain," by Slint, between bits of Indian, Samothrace and a Geert van der Velde fronted haarp.

The mashing of '90s post-rock makes total sense in a doom context. Doom tends to be defined by minimalism in all aspects: tempo, musical complexity and vocal range. Simple riffs played slowly but with massive weight. This is exactly what post-rock bands like Slint were doing in the '90 by stretching out the "quiet/loud" dynamic to unreal lengths. They gradually built songs with repetitive, droning riffs. Which is much like what doom metal is to death metal.

Palehorse's Slint-ness rears its head most noticeably on "I Wish We Could Go Back And Do This All Again" and "Fill Your Ears With Wax." Around the 5-minute mark until the end, a simple 4/4 beat; a repeated, three-chord bass riff and spoken word vocals reduced to less than one-quarter the previous amplitude. The lowered dynamic is a deep breath; a moment of respite from the consistent crushing. Musical peaks must have their accompanying valleys for their height to be perceived because if the volume is always maxed to 10 it all actually sounds like 1.

Palehorse continue to shift dynamically throughout Soft As Butter sometimes sounding like another '90s rock band and that's punk royals Fugazi. "Challenge Hanukkah" has a bass riff that sounds like it could've been on End Hits or A Steady Diet of Nothing. Some dismiss the song -- and the band as a whole -- for the use of hand claps and melodic singing they employ on the track. "It's too emo," they complain. I dismiss those listeners as too dogmatic. Pancakes with maple syrup are a delicious breakfast but it is more interesting to the palate to add peanut butter or bacon.




And that is what I seek most these days: I want to hear something interesting. Too often do I hear new records that occupy familiar territory. When a band tries something new very few of us give the record a fair enough shot before shooting it down for not being "heavy" or "brutal" enough.

Hopefully, that metal fan isn't you and you're as wild about these two records by Dark Castle and Palehorse as I am, because they are two of the most interesting records I've heard all year. They are a breath of fresh air.