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Profound
Lore continues to intrigue the world offering some of the most
interesting records of actual times. In their roster, one can
find nearly anything musical, as long as is challenging and
doesn’t include much of a nation’s folklore. By that I mean, as
of August 17th, none of the bands in their roster have
influences from cumbia, tango, polka or cha cha cha. But who
knows what Profound Lore might have in store. The range this
Canadian label is working goes from the metallic shoegaze of
Alcest, to the classic doom of The Gates of Slumber, the bizarre
black metal of Portal and the hellish doom of Atavist and to the
indescribable solemnity, ever developing and growing beauty of
Nathaniel Michael. Or as he goes musically, Half Makeshift.
To be frank,
outside of the typical description of instruments and how they
are played, it’s pretty hard to put Omen into words. That
may be the job of a critic (or in my case, a pseudo critic), but
I’d like to pass. Just have clear that you have here a huge
range of music; all deeply affecting, all slow, all gorgeous.
That said, there is nothing pop to Omen. No balladry in
those, sweet strings at the beginning of “Omen III”. No Richard
Clayderman influence in that piano. It’s great because as
Michael hits a key, in this tune he also follows with an earth
shaking distortion of the same note. The effect is downright
‘pretty’, for lack of a better word, ‘divine’ if I want to be
delicate and ‘gnarly’ if I want to sound like a moron.
Obviously,
an album like Omen is one of extremes, where the
occasional grandiosity of what sounds like sheer distortion and
feedback works in great contrast to the pianos that open the
album. It’s an emotional journey that unlike the most
castigating extreme doom, doesn’t punish your senses, but
enriches them. And those extremes are never displayed in the
easiest of ways. At no point does Omen become metal,
clankily industrial, or blown out reach-the-summit post rock.
Though there is some of the latter in Michael’s experiments,
what he shows us here is a range of emotions within one mood.
Word on the
street is that Michael will no longer work on Half Makeshift.
Michael believes we are at portas of the end of the
world. If this is the soundtrack, let’s get it on. Let the
apocalypse begin…
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