Sistere

I'm an aesthetic-driven man; if something looks good, I'm probably gonna buy it. That's what happened with Sistere, at least. I saw the muted, earthy tones of the slightly Dali-esque woodland scene on the cover and thought to myself, "Eh, even if it ends up being a mediocre/crappy album, I'll still have this kick-ass album cover to look at in my Bandcamp collection." However, once I clicked the link to the album, I was surprised; glowing reviews, none lower than an 87/100, made up the bulk of the album's webpage, and other Bandcamp users were raving about this (allegedly) incredible album. Out of pure curiosity, I bought the thing (because I still had money then), and resolved to listen to it while driving, since there wouldn't be the option of switching to something else if this album bored me. (Full disclosure: I don't have an auxiliary input in my car. I have to use CDs. RIP me.)

To make a short story far shorter than it already is, this album is now my favorite album of the decade.

Overall, this album has a bit in common with modern sludge metal (harsh vocal delivery, equal emphasis on sick riffage and dissonant chords), a little bit of old-school progressive rock (acoustic guitars, spoken-word samples, analog synthesizers), and even a bit of post-punk (long and complex song structures, time signature and tempo changes, ambient space, even harsh noise every so often). There are only four tracks here, but don't go thinking you could listen to this album on your lunch break - unless, that is, your lunch break is over seventy minutes long. Every track here is eleven minutes or longer; Izah are clearly one of those groups like Swans or Tool in that they are only done with a track when they feel like they've pushed the music to its full potential, even if the track ends up being over thirty minutes long (like the closing title track is here).

The opening track, "Indefinite Instinct," kicks the album off on a comparatively gentle note with a little bit of what sounds like television static (possibly provided by a synthesizer), which is cut off by a quick drum fill leading into a drum-and-vocal intro. The rest of the song progresses in three separate parts: one that's kind of melodic sludge, another which is almost post-rock/post-metal (think Godspeed You! Black Emperor playing a gentler Neurosis song), and a final dissonant section in a way that sounds like a doom metal band covering Converge, with some kooky analog synths padding everything out.

"Duality," the second track, really does live up to its name; it opens with some thick, sludgy riffage right off the bat that is cut off with soft, sugary acoustic guitars pretty abruptly about two minutes into the song. Of course, it would be too predictable if Izah stuck with this new acoustic-dominant direction, so they switch back to the heavy bit, because fuck you, they do what they want. Then, about halfway through the track during a slowdown, there's a spoken-word bit that's a little hard to make out amidst everything else that is happening in the mix, but there's clips of news reports on the Unabomber, then something about destroying the factories that sounds like it's taken from an audiobook of the Communist manifesto, and a litany of other things that seem to follow this theme of humanity's lowest points and most evil tendencies. There is a single melody throughout this song that is reprised several times over a couple of different tempos/signatures, and it manages to fit perfectly every single time (you'll know it when you hear it).

"Finite Horizon" is actually a track that the band has released previously; it appeared on their debut EP with a track called "Crevice." This is easily the most "straightforward" track on the album, but it certainly is anything but radio-friendly. It starts off with a speedy, hammering riff that slows down into sludge-doom heaven, and then speeds up again into dissonant chords, heavy bass guitar, hammering blast beats, and screams that could curl your wallpaper. Of course, they do still slow it down, but it's a little spacier than on other tracks, so nothing here feels stale. It's excellent, and if you want to preview this album, I'd suggest starting with this track.

Then the title track comes along, and...actually, you know what? I'm not spoiling anything that happens here. It's THAT good. Trust me. I mean, it's not like they suddenly go zydeco or something, but it's not like they're just repeating themselves on this track. They're basically taking everything they've done previously on this album and turning it up to 11.

As far as complaints about this album, I really have only one: why the FUCK are people not talking about this band more? ...I guess that's not really a complaint about the album itself, but I'd be lying if I said I cared. Honestly, the only reason I'm not giving this album a perfect score is because I'm praying they can somehow do even better on the next album. Granted, they did go through a lineup change only a year after this album came out, so...fingers crossed. This one'll be hard to top.

For a debut album, "Sistere" sure is a huge whopper at 72 minutes with the title track alone clocking in at 31 minutes. You'd expect Izah to have plenty to say to keep you all interested and for the most part they do with their mix of dark urban blues ambient, sludge metal, hardcore and post-rock. Combined with a range of moods, mostly in the dark brooding end of the emotional spectrum which could spill into sudden anger and violence, this makes for a recording of complicated soundscapes.

Opening track "Indefinite Instinct" is a fairly gentle introduction into "Sistere" with post-rock melodies that steadily descend into a heavier, more monstrous sludge metal demon complete with distorted shouting voices and effects suggestive of mental and emotional fragmentation and breakdown. This leads into the aggressive death metal of "Duality" which delves into passages of deep cavernous atmosphere and jangling guitars, or field recordings of multi-voiced speeches, and eventually turns into an epic post-rock sludge drama of despair and heartbreak. Yet threaded through this song is a tiny sliver of hope and light which keeps the whole track together and focused. "Finite Horizon" follows in a similar vein as the two preceding tracks, mixing melodic post-rock, hardcore and hard-driving, grinding sludge with clean vocals and spoken voice recordings into another anthem of giant proportions. While the music itself is very impressive as it builds towards its climax, the clean-toned choirboy-like singing is rather weak and its style is embarrassingly reminiscent of old 1970s hard rock US bands like Kansas and Styx. If there's a song in the first half of the album that needs pruning, "Finite Horizon" most definitely does.

At this point, most bands might consider that 41 minutes of music would be more than enough to introduce them to new audiences but Izah go ahead with a fourth song that's three-quarters as long as the rest of the album. They probably might have done with another 10 minutes if not perhaps for the physical limits imposed by vinyl, CD or other recording formats. The title piece is a melange of sorrowful post-rock, black metal, anguished rasping vocal, brooding atmospheres, spoken voice and other field recordings, epic doom rock, screechy noise and symphonic rock all united by a pessimistic vision and a relentless trudge towards what must be an apocalyptic climax. It could have been a long rambling mess but the song is very focused and concentrated and that along with the steady pace keeps it united if loose. There is scope to reduce some of the length of the song especially in the last five minutes without affecting the music's integrity.

While the album is long and has passages of heavy grinding music, it's not exhausting and it's less of an endurance test than would be expected for epic doom / sludge / post-rock fusion music. Izah do have some pop sensibility and know what will appeal and how much to dole out. The album easily lends itself to separate hearings - you could treat tracks 1 to 3 as a unit separate from the title track if you wish or if you feel brave, hear everything in one go. "Sistere" (the album) is actually consistent musically all the way through even though the temptation to range far and wide and eccentrically with the style and songs Izah have must have been strong. The result is an album that is actually well balanced between single-minded direction and experimentation that goes far enough without falling over completely into messy self-indulgence.