Clouds Taste Satanic - Dawn of the Satanic Age (2016)
With their third album, the NY-based
crew of Clouds Taste Satanic has changed up their cover art style a
bit, leaving behind the Renaissance-evoking paintings of religious
imagery for a more psychedelic landscape, and altering their music in
comparable fashion. Right from the start, opening track “Enthroned”
pulls out a more rock-styled lead riff than the band's seemed
inclined to use on previous outings, and while they retain a doomy
weight to the tones, sustain, and pacing, the exploratory
genre-blurring leads them to some intriguingly unconventional places.
In other spots, it's faint strains of the band's past post-rock
playing that's twisting the bass and drums, grungy tones coating the
guitar strings in spots, touches of straight-forward heavy metal
swinging heads elsewhere, and proggy jangles of complex riffage
crossing various bridges.
It all sounds like the output of a band
that's continuing to challenge itself in the process of writing their
songs, and keeping themselves nice and fresh by doing so. Going from
one CTS album to the next, there's recognizable lineage, but no sense
that they're getting bogged down or feeling uninspired. There's
liveliness, good grooves, and a sense of storytelling without vocals,
and I can't wait to hear what new directions the band will explore on
their follow-up. And while there's fun in comparing the albums to
each other, CTS have also made an album which stands strongly on its
own, especially with the stylish closing of “Demon Among the
Stars”. If this is your first encounter with the band, check it
out already; if you've heard their earlier albums, there's still
surprises in store for you.
~ Gabriel
For Fans Of; Earthling, Merlin, Sea
Bastard, Sumokem, Wizard Smoke
~
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