Being away from the game for the majority of six years can be a momentum killer. It can also allow for regrouping, re-evaluation and the opportunity to gain a new perspective.
When Minsk’s last album, With Echoes In The Movement Of Stone, was making the rounds, the world’s population of sludgy post-metal was at a critical mass. Even after Isis called it a day, there was only so much dynamic downcast that ears could tolerate; guitars couldn’t be tuned much lower without sounding like mush and too many vocalists with already limited repertoires were trying out their baritone to questionable results.
The herd has since been thinned and this under-appreciated Illinois outfit have returned, putting their stamp on sounding clean and colossal as well as tribally tectonic, while maintaining a luxurious edge etched out of soaring psychedelics and a swirl of fluttery keys (the four-part Onward Procession) and even some shredding heroics.
Minsk’s angle may be familiar, but they generate enough of a kaleidoscopic twist to emerge victorious./o:p
