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...And this is actually their worst. - 95%
A band whose worst album gets a 95 has got to be one hell of a band, and make no mistake, it is. The members of Maudlin of the Well are clearly overflowing with ideas and the only reason the album loses some marks are because of inexperience. The production isn’t the best you’ll find and the arrangements are a little confused. They aren’t that sure about how they want it to come out but know for a fact that this release won’t be a true indication of their immense talent. Sure enough, they got the other two perfect and that’s what matters.
But anyway, coming to why I think these guys are amazing, well, for one, there’s no shortage of variety. No other band will experiment with so many guitar tones, vocal styles, genres, instruments and time signatures. There are growls, clean vocals, female vocals, spoken words, chants… everything! The louder sections can be best described as ‘organized chaos’ while the lighter ones sound like (ok this might sound weird) what ‘Death’ would be if they played post rock with their characteristic transitions, complex riffing and melodic tones. They usually comprise inhuman drum shuffles and perpetually fresh melodies. I guess the best example would be the 11 minute The Ocean, The Kingdom, And The Temptation.
This post rocky ambiance and beauty can be found for most of the parts and it somehow manages to be unaffected by the growls and all the other changes going around. Can you imagine one of those science fiction films of the future, where so many impressive tasks are being performed continuously but our main character is in a world of his own and manages to keep the spotlight on his mundane thoughts and activities? You know, that sort of charm is here on every single song.
