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All the Cold > Heritage > Reviews > Spatupon
All the Cold - Heritage

The definition of experimentation - 100%

Spatupon, February 17th, 2014

All The Cold is a premier experimental rock/world music from the mighty land of Russia. Originally releasing only cold, unforgiving, depressive black metal this band has evolved to something which cannot really be traced back to their original root. Sometimes, when bands deviate from their original genre they tend to become less impressive than how they once were, take for example Kataklysm, throughout their career they've released some bone-crushing music, but as time progressed they got increasingly mediocre.

This EP, shows how the band has progressed technically, and how they were ready to risk their entire "fame" taking a leap in the cold void, to release such a diverse, unorthodox album. I can't really say from which artists those two Russian hordes found the inspiration to release a progressive, trance-like Ep. Maybe they had certain aspirations that would help them to escape the growing scene of ambient black metal, which is increasingly being filled up with mediocre bands, which do nothing to stand out from the endless ocean of bands playing the same music genre.

One thing which remained the same, is the trance-like atmosphere present throughout their entire repertoire, providing them with their own identity. Probably one of the most deducible progression that these guys have made from their earlier releases, is the use of bass, and guitars, and certain other string instruments which where never present in their earlier releases.

The guitars really manage to create a groove which forces the listener to go into a blinding rage, and in contrast, certain "shoegazey" melodies help in sending the listener into a trance, therefore creating an amazing balance and evoking countless emotions, thus making this album perfect for a listen no matter how the listener is feeling, during his experience of listening this album.

The string instruments, and also occasionally the guitar manage to provide this EP with a tinge of exotic atmosphere, most visible in the song "Zhu Zin". The bass perfectly executes the task of creating its own identity withing such a diverse EP thus making this piece of art a very interesting, ethereal listen. The drums do not really offer anything special, mostly not really detaching from the standard hard rock/ modern rock beats present in most modern rock albums, although it still manages to incorporate itself with the rest of the EP.

Lengthwise this work of art is perfect, and it perfectly makes the listener crave for more music of the same ethereal, beautiful nature. It is neither too long, thus making it boring, but it is neither too short, to not really elaborate on the elements of the music given to us listeners on this beast of a record. The production is crystal clear, which became a sort of a trademark with the latter All The Cold releases, thus allowing the music to flawlessly make its way through the medium.

I suggest that anyone who is into experimental music, to give this EP a spin, the band uploaded it on its you tube channel, so this can also be heard for free. Such a masterpiece cannot remain unnoticed, derelict, for the sagacious nature of the musicians behind this work, is the true definition of uniqueness.