It’s got to be the Norse blood in me (seriously, I’m a native Californian but, having traced my family genealogy, I have cousins who currently live in Norway) that immediately stirs me up when I hear that a band names their premier self-released EP Viking Funeral. Brooklyn-based Hull are just such a band who've set such a fire in me. Sady, I had never even heard about Hull until three days ago and I’ve been listening to their other two albums, Sole Lord and the freshly minted new release Beyond The Lightless Sky, non-stop since.
The first resonance I felt from their sound is a similarity the sludgey doom metal sound of Sleep. This is melodic, doom-touched, post-metal of the same tenor as Mastodon, but it does not scream you down quite as destructively. The sound of Hull just breathes doom into you – the death roars that the band unleashes are not harsh and raspy or angry, but they are breathy and full of a spirit that feels life-affirming, not oblivion-extolling. From the very beginning of “Earth From Water,” Hull presents themselves as they'll remain for the duration of Beyond The Lightless Sky and it is dark but, somehow, it's impossible not to feel a little uplifted by the style combination set by guitarists C.M.Laietta and N. Palmirotto which could be best described as “mathy pitch” in that it soars to death-defying heights, but never quite extricates itself from the dark depths too. This sort of conflict reoccurs throughout Beyond The Lightless Sky, but spires and reaches excellent pinnacles in songs like “Just A Trace Of Early Dawn,” “Wake The Heavens Reveal The Sun” and “A Light The Shone From Aside The See” (beginning to sense a common thematic thread?) where the light and dark exhibited by the band achieve their closest proximity. Production-wise, there is even a bit of a lo-fi buzz and hum to the sound on this album which I think adds to the overall effect.
I have not been quite so taken by first listenings to a new record in some time. This album’s sound is so layered and complex. Beyond The Lightless Sky is prog-metal in it’s birth throes. For a new band to create a concept album with this epic potential so early in their career (supposedly it’s a story of two Mayan brothers battling with their cosmic identities), is unheard of and its power is in the unrefined roughness of their sound. Five or ten years from now when they are Mastodon-successful, a concept album like this will be cake for them to write and produce. This has a bit of a garage band feel to it (a well-tooled, two-car garage) and the fact that it's noticeable will cause listeners to want to stand up and cheer because, as much as such a fantastic album with such a perfectly comfortable sound seems like it should be out of reach on a shoe-string budget, Hull is doing it here, and making new myths as the do it. Go buy this record and bring it home. Put it on and watch as Hull sets your house on fire just with their sound and sweat alone.
Artist:
www.hullandhighwater.com/
www.myspace.com/hull
www.facebook.com/pages/HULL/
Album:
Beyond The Lightless Sky is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
