Skip to content

Progarchy

Rockin' Republic of Prog

  • About
  • ALBUM REVIEWS
    • Review Index
      • A
        • 23 Acez
        • AC/DC
        • Active Heed
        • Adaen
        • Advent
        • Advent Horizon
        • Airbag
        • Aisles
        • Althea
        • Amnesiac Quartet
        • Amon Düül II
        • Anathema
        • Anima Tempo
        • Anytown
        • Arcade Messiah
        • Armageddon
        • Arrow Haze
        • Art Against Agony
        • As A Conceit
        • Asia
        • Astra
        • AsZension
        • Atropos Project
        • Autumn Electric
        • Ayreon
        • Ben Allison
        • Ian Anderson
        • Roie Avin (author)
        • Tori Amos
      • B
        • Babylon
        • Bangbakc
        • Barock Project
        • Below a Silent Sky
        • Bent Knee
        • Big Big Train
        • Big Hogg
        • Big Wreck
        • Bigelf
        • Birzer Bandana
        • Black Sabbath
        • Boards of Canada
        • Brainticket
        • Built for the Future
        • Jack Bruce
        • John Bassett
        • Kate Bush
        • Richard Barbieri
        • The Beach Boys
        • The Beatles
        • The Benzene Ring
        • The Blue Prison
        • Tim Bowness
        • Zac Brown Band
      • C
        • Anna Calvi
        • Ben Cameron Project
        • Cailyn
        • Cairo
        • Caligula’s Horse
        • Cathedral
        • Causa Sui
        • Cheeto’s Magazine
        • Chevelle
        • Choral Hearse
        • Chris Cornell
        • Clear Blue Sky
        • Coheed and Cambria
        • Coralspin
        • Corvus Stone
        • Cosmic Danger
        • Cosmograf
        • Country Joe & The Fish
        • Crashride
        • John Cale and Terry Riley
        • La Coscienza Di Zeno
        • Phil Collins
        • The C:Live Collective
        • The Cure
      • D
        • Damanek
        • Days Between Stations
        • Deus Omega
        • DID
        • Different Light
        • Distant Horizon
        • District 97
        • Dodson and Fogg
        • Dreadnaught
        • Dream Theater
        • Drifting Sun
        • Dropshard
        • Drummond
        • Dusks Embrace
        • Miles Davis
        • The Dead Astronaut
        • Thomas Dolby
      • E
        • Eagles
        • Echo and the Bunnymen
        • Echo Us
        • Echolyn
        • Eden Shadow
        • Edison’s Children
        • Elbow
        • Emerson, Lake, and Palmer
        • Emmett Elvin
        • Emperor Guillotine
        • Eye
        • John Elefante
        • The Earth and I
      • F
        • Bryan Ferry
        • Fake Heroes
        • Farwatch
        • Fatal Destiny
        • Fire Garden
        • Fish on Friday
        • Flashback Caruso
        • Flying Colors
        • Flying Lotus
        • FM
        • Forest Field
        • Forest God
        • Fractal Mirror
        • Frost*
        • Hasse Fröberg and Musical Companion
        • Henry Fool
        • The Far Meadow
        • The Fierce and the Dead
        • The Flower Kings
      • G
        • Eric Gillette
        • Galahad
        • Gandalf
        • Gandalf’s Fist
        • Gaumskyy
        • Gazpacho
        • Genesis
        • Ghost Community
        • Glass Hammer
        • Glaston
        • Glory of the Supervenient
        • Godsticks
        • Gotic
        • Grand Tour
        • John Galgano
        • Peter Gabriel
        • The Gasoline Band
        • The Gift
        • Trey Gunn
      • H
        • Don Harper
        • Gavin Harrison
        • Hall & Oates
        • Hands
        • Heliopolis
        • Heyoka’s Mirror
        • Hiromi
        • How We Live
        • Hugh Howey
        • Hyaena
        • John Holden
        • Steve Hackett
        • The Holland Brothers
        • [Headspace]
      • I
        • iamthemorning
        • Impera
        • Infinity Shred
        • Inventioning
        • Isildurs Bane & Steve Hogarth
        • IZZ
      • J
        • Jennyanykind
        • Jethro Tull
        • jhimm
        • Johnny Unicorn
        • Juodvarnis
        • Jusska
      • K
        • Dave Kerzner
        • John Kongos
        • Kansas
        • Karakorum
        • Kardashev
        • Karfagen
        • Karmakanic
        • Katatonia
        • Kaukasus
        • Kinetic Element
        • Kingbathmat
        • Kingsbury Manx
        • Konchordat
        • Kopendium
        • Korzo
        • Kyros
        • Liz Kearton
        • Manu Katché
        • Mike Kershaw
      • L
        • Arjen Anthony Lucassen
        • David Longdon
        • Jeff Lynne
        • Jonas Lindberg & The Other Side
        • Lanes Laire
        • LEAH
        • Led Zeppelin
        • Lifesigns
        • Lift
        • Little Atlas
        • Little Sparrow
        • Lobate Scarp
        • Lonely Robot
        • Lunatic Soul
        • Stephen Lambe
        • The Last Colour
        • The Levin Brothers
      • M
        • Ciro Manna
        • David McWilliams
        • Jay Matharu
        • John McLaughlin
        • Kevin McCormick
        • Magenta
        • Majestic
        • Make Way For Man
        • Man
        • Mandala
        • Manning
        • Marco Minneman
        • Marillion
        • McDonald and Giles
        • Mechanical Man
        • Meliorist
        • Merkaba
        • MetaQuorum
        • Mezzanine Floor
        • Mirthrandir
        • Modern English
        • Mosh
        • Mothertongue
        • Muse
        • My Bloody Valentine
        • Natalie Merchant
        • Neal Morse
        • Sarah McLachlan
        • The Madeira
        • The Mercury Tree
        • The Mercy Stone
        • The Moody Blues
        • The Mute Gods
        • The Neal Morse Band
        • Tim Morse
        • Van Morrison
      • N
        • Bill Nelson
        • N.y.X
        • Napier’s Bones
        • newspaperflyhunting
        • Next to None
        • Nguyên Lê
        • Nine Stones Close
        • Nomadic
        • North Atlantic Oscillation
        • Nosound
      • O
        • Andy John Bradford’s Oceans 5
        • Oak
        • Obiymy Doschu
        • One Thousand Wings
        • Orange Clocks
        • Ordinary Psycho
        • Orion Tango
        • Orymus
        • Osibisa
        • The Opium Cartel
      • P
        • Fabrizio La Piana
        • Matthew Parmenters
        • Painted Black
        • Panic Room
        • Paradigm Shift
        • Patchwork Cacophony
        • Pavlov’s Dog
        • Pearly Gates
        • Perihelion Ship
        • Pillage and Plunder
        • Pineapple Thief
        • Pink Floyd
        • Pontus
        • Porcupine Tree
        • Poseidotica
        • Prospective
        • Proto-kaw
        • Psychic Equalizer
        • Public Service Broadcasting
        • Pure Reason Revolution (PPR)
        • PuzzleWood
        • Robert Plant
      • Q
        • Quantum Jump
      • R
        • Alasdair Roberts
        • Bjørn Riis
        • Jason Rubenstein
        • Radiohead
        • Remark
        • Rhys Marsh
        • Riftwalker
        • Ring of Gyges
        • Riverside
        • Rush
          • Rush: Cygnus X-2, Eh!
        • The Reasoning
        • The Receiver
        • The Rube Goldberg Machine
      • S
        • Bruce Soord
        • Chris Squire
        • David Sancious
        • Eric Siday
        • Nad Sylvan
        • Salander
        • SAND
        • Se Delan
        • Seryn
        • Shepherds of Cassini
        • Shineback
        • Simple Minds
        • Sixpence None the Richer
        • Slowdive
        • Sons of Apollo
        • Sound of Contact
        • Sound Struggle
        • Soundgarden
        • Soup
        • Sphelm
        • Spock’s Beard
        • Storm Corrosion
        • Synaesthesia
        • SynaptiK
        • Syndone
        • The Tierney Sutton Band
        • Tom Slatter
        • Verity Smith
      • T
        • 3rdegree
        • Andy Tillison Diskdrive
        • Devin Townsend
        • Geoff Tate
        • t (Thomas Thielen)
        • Talk Talk
        • Tears for Fears
        • Telergy
        • TerraTerra
        • The Tangent
        • The The
        • Theo
        • These Curious Thoughts
        • Tilt
        • Tin Spirits
        • To Die Elsewhere
        • Tool
        • Transatlantic
        • Trauma Field
        • Trojan Horse
        • Turbulence
      • U
        • The Under
        • U2
        • Ultravox
        • Under a Banner
        • Unified Past
        • Universe
        • Unprocessed
        • Ursus
        • Utopian Trap
        • UVTraveler
      • V
        • Van Der Graaf Generator
        • Vanden Plas
        • Vangelis
        • Vertica
        • Vikrit
        • Violent Attitude if Noticed
        • Vitruvius
      • W
        • Barry Weinberg
        • Damian Wilson and Adam Wakeman
        • Darryl Way
        • John Wesley
        • Steven Wilson
        • We Are Kin
        • Widek
        • Wolfram
      • X
        • X-Panda
      • Y
        • Dwight Yoakam
        • Yes
        • Yezda Urfa
        • Yppah
      • Z
        • Zayn
  • Contact
  • Interviews
  • THE ARTISTS SPEAK

Tag: sludge

Review: Subnoir – A Long Way From Home

On August 26, 2018August 27, 2018 By NickIn progressive rockLeave a comment

Subnoir - A Long Way from Home

Prejudice. It’s something all of us have. As a product of human error, all of us sometimes unfairly judge based off stereotypes and predetermined opinions, musical or not. I have always had a prominent discrimination against something many people love. That something is metal music. My opinion on metal music was harsh and unfair, quickly dismissing it as shallow and insignificant. To me, metal always consisted of repeated chugging chords and strange animal noises replacing actual singing, with cheesy and soft sections interspersed. I thought of metal as a self-indulgent form of music, that served only to please the ostentatious and overblown bands and their ridiculously loyal fans. It was a brutal criticism of a genre I didn’t know well at all, and it served only to damage my listening experience. The worst part was, I believed myself for the longest time. That is, until I listened to Subnoir’s debut masterpiece A Long Way From Home. Rarely can a single album give you a completely different outlook on an entire genre, but the album did it, and if I have one regret about it, it’s not listening to it sooner.

What makes ALWFH differ from other metal albums A.D. is that it’s simply a way in for anybody who doesn’t warm to metal easily. It effortlessly mixes elements of indie rock, sludge metal, post-rock, progressive, and even ambient into its own unique hybridization of genres. However, it’s still recognizable as metal (and some damn good metal at that): its rich and heavy chords and growling vocals are staples of the genre done one better, and its unconventional song structure recalls progressive metal bands such as Opeth or even Mastodon. However, Subnoir remember something so many metal bands seem to forget: to make their music beautiful. When not pounding out chords so rich they seem tangible, the band are creating softly meandering interludes that are nothing short of gorgeous (if in a subtly menacing way). 

Subnoir

In addition to improving on already-established standards of metal, Subnoir constantly find new ways to innovate and expand the genre’s depths. The album is “progressive” in every sense of the word. Subnoir also constantly show restraint on the album; instead of taking the “easy way out” and constantly letting the songs devolve into sludgy jam sessions, the band choose to take longer musical paths and let the songs build themselves to beautiful apexes. The band constantly discard conventional structure in favor of an infinitely more interesting way of building their songs: sometimes subtly disquieting passages will suddenly give way to triumphantly blasting guitar chords, or the band will introduce an unexpected riff, or even give ad-lib nods to other genres. Whatever it is they end up doing, the band always excite and are never predictable, giving the album an impulsive edge.

While they show brilliance in the songwriting category, the band’s members also make it known that they sure as hell know what they’re doing with their instruments. Frontman Kenneth Mellum is the best of both worlds: his singing has a gruff yet affecting edge, while his growling never feels forced or laughably indulgent, like so many others do. His voice fits perfectly with the astoundingly rich chords played on the guitars, and, both his voice and the guitars acting as instruments, the pair is one you won’t likely see bettered in almost any metal band. Subnoir excel in other instrumental fields as well: the drumming is consistently strong, while the atmospheric tones that complement the quieter sections are always placed to near-perfection.

A Long Way From Home is not an album that can be taken apart track-by-track. While each track makes for a fascinating individual listen, the album is best taken as a whole. The length of the album’s songs (the album spans eight songs and 50 minutes) may seem a little daunting for the uninitiated, but the album is easily welcoming for anyone willing to give it their undivided attention. The album is a seductive experience, trading in structure and melody for overall sound and tone. It may not be the most accessible metal album on the market, but it should have any listener quickly scrambling for their future works. I know I will.

Until then support Subnoir by checking out A Long Way From Home on Bandcamp.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • More
  • Tumblr

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Progarchy on WordPress.com

Translate

Follow us on Twitter

My Tweets

Blog Stats

  • 1,238,570 hits

Blogroll

  • Aural Moon
  • Big Big Train
  • Billy Reeves/Kscope
  • Delicious Agony
  • Dutch Progressive Rock Page
  • Friday Night Progressive
  • Glass Hammer
  • Heavy Metal Overload
  • House of Prog
  • Lee Speaks Out About Music
  • Power Windows (Rush)
  • Prog DJ – Gregg Kovach
  • Prog Magazine (UK)
  • Progzilla
  • Rush is a Band
  • Stephen Humphries
  • The Dividing Line
  • The Prog Mind
  • The Prog Report
  • The Prog Sphere
  • Tony Rowsick's Prog-Watch

Recent Comments

Bryan Morey on Riverside Remind Us Who We Are…
Rick’s Quick T… on Progtoberfest: Day 2 Repo…
Rick’s Quick T… on Riverside Remind Us Who We Are…
Rick’s Quick T… on Kruekutt’s 2021 Favorite…
Rick’s Quick T… on Hedwig Mollestad’s Ekhid…

Progarchists

  • Adam Sears
  • alisonscolumn
  • Craig Breaden
  • Nick
  • bradbirzer
  • Bryan Morey
  • carleolson
  • chuckhicks
  • Connor Mullin
  • Geddy Lee Israel
  • Erik Heter
  • ericbfg
  • Jay Watson
  • Thaddeus Wert
  • Frank Urbaniak
  • Gianna E
  • Iris
  • James R Turner
  • Jason Rubenstein
  • Mahesh Sreekandath
  • Julie B
  • John Deasey
  • Kevin McCormick
  • Kevin Williams
  • kruekutt
  • latindrummer
  • matthewpainter1
  • Time Lord
  • pdabbene
  • Paul Watson
  • Dr Nick
  • John Simms
  • Russell Clarke
  • Reyna McCain
  • Dave Bandana
  • Tobbe Janson
  • Pete Blum
Create a website or blog at WordPress.com
  • Follow Following
    • Progarchy
    • Join 908 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Progarchy
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: