THE DISCOVERY

'The Discovery' - Cloudkicker (7/10)

Beginning with an ill sense of calm, the wail of an air raid leads into the first wave of trademark djenty chaos that defines Cloudkicker. A few minutes it, you get a sense of what this album is about; taking the atonal, highly mathematical crushing rhythms that bands like Meshuggah have done before, and replacing abrasive vocals with underlying atmosphere and melody. Being that Meshuggah has always been a band I was never able to enjoy too much for it's abrasive vocals and lack of apparent melody, Cloudkicker seems like a gift from the clouds above, allowing me to enjoy math metal without any of the initial flaws to the formula that turned me off.

While you're going to need a tough ear to listen to the whole palette of madness in one listen, I find that melodies and 'mellow break' interludes are placed in just the right places; sort of like 'checkpoints' in an otherwise delightfully messy journey.

While it's going to sound like 'noise' to those not yet accustomed to the nuances and technique of this little genre, the stuff really is brilliant, if but a little samey throughout. It really takes a genius at the helm to make each instrument play in a different time, and yet still have it come together into something cohesive.

The highlight tracks are certainly 'Dysphoria' and the title track 'Discovery.' The other heavy tracks- while keeping up the same level of mathematical proficiency- end up not acheiving the marriage of melody and rhythm that those two do. The latter of the tracks mentioned works out to be around seven or eight minutes long, and has an entire portion devoted to a hypnotizing exercise in atmosphere; a crescendo that leads back into the typical heaviness, only making the heaviness sound even heavier in contrast.

The EPs this one-man project has delved out have very little, if not nothing on this. Ben Sharp has fashioned a remarkably solid debut creation here, and while a little bit of exploration outside his supposed 'comfort zone' would do wonders for the sophomore, this is a piece of music that has been quite enjoyable to listen to.

Post Rock Djent Hybrid is Pure Pleasure

Of all the bands to spawn an entire new genre, Meshuggah is that last one I would have picked. I was not a big fan of the first examples I heard of the Djent sound ("Bleed" from obZen) though I certainly recognized there was something new and intense in the music. The hyper precise down-tuned math metal has spread and while I still dislike the version with harsh/screamed lyrics, some of the instrumental versions of Djent are the freshest things happening in music right now.

Cloudkicker is the name for the instrumental djent project of home recording artist BM Sharp. (There are actually several one man projects in the genre). Sharp leans heavily on post-rock ideas and the atmospheric quality melded with brutal riffing makes both sounds better. Cloudkicker's debut, THE DISCOVERY, is in my opinion his best work because of it is the most hybrid. While there are great riffs and furious technique on this album, it is most of all a sonic adventure. It is a scene, it is images, it is MUSIC!!! While a lot of post-rock (and virtually all post-metal) bores me to tears, the riffs add energy to the builds and drops. Conversely, unlike every other piece of metal I've ever listened to, this album virtually never makes me think as a guitar player. And the guitar playing is phenomenal. When I finish this album, I feel like I've been taken on a great journey.

This is a 4+ album that I'm just not quite ready to push into masterpiece rating. But only the Animals as Leaders album is better in the whole genre, and that includes the entire Meshuggah catalog. Nothing even from Sharp himself has matched his debut. Sometimes the freshness of the ideas gives a piece of music a special kind of life and I believe that is the case on THE DISCOVERY.

Cloudkicker's The Discovery is an instrumental barrage of metal. The imposing, only occasionally interrupted wall of sound sometimes grows tedious, but never horrendous. It is recommended to those who like extreme metal but cannot tolerate growling. The dredg-like intervals wisely inject a measure of emotion and sonic diversity into the album.

"Genesis Device" Emergency sirens blare, warning the innocent of the impending thrashing of guitars and drums.

"Dysphoria" What makes this an outstanding bit of metal are the subtle bends and slides from the electric guitars. Something about the second half makes it sounds like heavy metal Styx.

"Avalanche" No snow is coming down here; instead, it's a cataclysm of thunderous guitar noise interspersed with eerie quiet.

"Everything's Mirrors" Passing into quieter, more melodic music, this delay-laden piece breathes and invigorates what was heretofore a good but somewhat stuffy metal album.

"Viceroy" After the beautiful interlude from space, Cloudkicker reenters the atmosphere and plows into the earth with more heavy mayhem. A battery of drums floods the middle section.

"Segue:" As the title implies, this is an interlude. It whispers underwater-like tones and pulls the focus away from metal altogether, treating the listener to an Enya-like new age experience.

"The Discovery" A bit predictably, the lengthy title track launches right back into the hefty, coarseness after a tender respite. I appreciate the variations in the rhythm, particularly with the bass drum.

"Covington" The third of the softer, delay-inspired clean guitar intervals serves the album well, and is, I find, the most like dredg.

"Triumverate!" Here is sixty-three seconds of energized and rhythmically interesting metal.

"States" The final track maintains its heavy metal exterior, but it stands out from the others because it has a hollow center; that is to say, the middle passage of the music has much less intensity.

This Post-Metal debut explores a Single Thread, and is Thematically Cohesive, but lacks Panache and Interest.

I must admit here and now, I've honestly been a tad wary to even get into this (makes my getting through my ridiculous list even harder haha). But I've heard enough material from Ben Sharp's Cloudkicker, from throughout its history (mostly early on), which has impressed and even excited. I can't tell how many times I've said this, but also important for me to note is my relationship with Post-Rock and Post-Metal overall: I'm a definite skeptic, to say the very least. This is the first LP and release by Cloudkicker, composed and performed by Sharp, released in 2008.

Coming out the gate from a frantic emergency siren, "Genesis Device" slowly, even softly, ramps up to brutal measure. Killer, kickass riff kept steady by a wash of blast beats. All in all, just a great opener. It seamlessly goes into the next, "Dysphoria", said riff opening up in complexity, though maintaining that starter heft. This is reminiscent to me now, in part, of some of the heavier material by early And So I Watch You From Afar, though its Post-Rock simplicity and direction is more in line with other contemporaries Russian Circles (maybe some day I'll rectify my distance and relationship with this latter band, at least). Here, on "Dysphoria", Ben shows off his drumming chops, and the production style of spacy, ethereal string-like keys throughout is revealed. As with much Post-Rock, I did feel this song, even with all its strengths, dragged on by minute 3. We get a modification to that riff, which I think is quite cool in general, on "Avalanche". There's still that grit and groove from before (not let up since "Genesis"), but there's some real interest in the spicy chords selected. Compositionally, we get more going on here than before, but only so much. I do have to mention again his aptitude as a master of rhythm. We get a very classic Metal riff approaching minute 4, which I quite liked.

As the "Avalanche" seemingly quite literally ended, quietness morphs into the intro of "Everything's Mirrors". Its function, I'm now not surprised, is simple interlude. "Welcome-to-the-Machine"-esque clanging sounds off "Viceroy". More open riffs here. Slight shift post-blast-beat to a bigger sound before returning to its thematic riff. The guitar effects and tone used on "Segue:" immediately reminded me of some material off a favorite of mine, Katil Dans (released that same year in 2008) by Turkish Art-Rock-meets-Alt-Metal band Çilekeş (I recommend "Akrep", the excellent "Diril", and the beautiful "Sinir"). This second interlude reveals itself to have more electronic roots. Weakest thus far unfortunately. We then get our title track, "The Discovery", and as the longest of the album at 8 minutes, it is a return to the heaviness from before. There's certainly an interesting mix here, the more ethereal elements from any keyboards, though perhaps also just super intense reverb on a guitar, are more present here than at any point before. It's thoroughly pretty heavy, like I said, but nothing really happens: to me, an unfortunate hallmark of the genre.

All dies away and we get a very different vibe in comparison to what came before in "Covington". More melodic perhaps, it's very of its time. Then we get the heaviest of, I would guess, our three interludes here, "Triumvirate!", which features a riff I would honestly have expected from Mastodon. It's pretty cool, and only lasts a minute before our final track, "States". This track then has a very cool main riff, totally unlike but reminiscent most to "Avalanche", following Sharp's exploration of what I felt was a sort of theme to The Discovery starting at the beginning, with "Genesis Device". The focus shifts away from the brutality and we get a soft build from more quiet. I definitely was hoping for more, especially with this closer.

True Rate: 2.75/5.00