Artist: Canyon Observer, The
Label: Kapa Records
Release: 2012
Duration: 29:06
Rating: 4/5
Can anyone actually argue with the fact (yes, the fact) that The Canyon Observer are probably one of the best things to happen to the Slovenian underground scene in recent years? Probably not. Or they just a) haven’t listened to them yet, or b) are one of those embittered know-it-alls who really have no clue and don’t want one about the Slovenian music scene, and only look abroad for good music.
When the then-largely-unknown band put out their first EP in October, it quickly took over the »Metelkova« scene, especially by Slovenian standards, while also picking up plenty of kind words from abroad (you can read the RockLine review of the debut EP HERE). The first chapter of The Canyon Observer bible left the crowd scared stiff and soaking wet. You’ll figure out soon enough that this is a band of big contradictions, though they’re only contradictions on the surface – the Slovenian post-metallers manage to fuse thematic and sonic elements that simply don’t belong together. This time, with Chapter II: These Binds Will Set You Free, even more so than before.
The titles are meaningful again. Or maybe not so much meaningful as simply (pretty) direct. Constantly chasing lust and giving in to pain can be a real indulgence. A murky, distorted atmosphere can be so beautiful it hurts. Minor is the new major; minor brings joy. And that minor is ever-present – in this emotional music, full of wild interweavings of furious sludge riffs and ambient echoes (reminiscent of Negura Bunget, masters of blending ambient music with harsher metal), there’s no room for happy endings. And there’s nothing wrong with that at all. What’s more, The Canyon Observer have found their pulse in it.
So where are those contradictions I mentioned, so thoroughly mangled that they’ve lost their “contra-” and become simply a matter of beautiful, natural, organic fusion that works on every level? Pleasure – pain, heavy, grimy distortion – light, delay-soaked ambience (which reflects a much bigger post-rock influence than on the band’s first EP), harsh vocals – erotic lyrics (I assume, since I can’t understand most of them)… in even the tiniest interweaving you can see a successful merging of substances that seemingly, and maybe previously, didn’t belong together, and so take on a new, more alluring form. As we await the end of the world with open arms.
Strictly speaking in musical terms, The Canyon Observer don’t rise above that (higher-quality) typical post-metal sound: even the sludge and stoner elements are very ordinary within the genre’s boundaries. Of course, it’s a very tasteful mix of distorted riffs and those effects-drenched cleans, of which there are too few for my taste. That’s where the band’s forté lies – in that second guitar lurking in the shadow of the louder riff, in that red thread it sometimes starts to weave and that, given enough room and time by the band, spreads over the whole song, swallows it up and creates a sense of higher-level experimentation with incompatible sounds, a feeling that it’s forcing the genre’s boundaries to redefine themselves and forcing the listener to listen more closely; let’s be honest, repeating sludge riffs can easily be pushed into the sonic background, since they’re better suited as a backdrop for what The Canyon Observer started making such good use of with this EP. Of course I fully realize that stoner and similar music is built on that kind of repetition, but even minimal touches of ambient second guitar are incredibly effective thanks to the band’s arranging chops – and that’s not something just anyone can pull off.
Sometimes I wish I could actually understand the vocals, but on the other hand it totally works: the listener, like with poetry, is left to their own interpretation of the titles and the music, and both are explicit enough. Maybe that’s exactly why everyone can relate to the music more easily – everyone bends the abstract content a little, shapes it into whatever they need at that moment. That’s exactly why the work itself is even greater and even better in the eyes of the individual, in the eyes of each person’s subjective factor. This kind of unclean vocal works on another level too – plenty of people will dig into the content much more, because they’ll want to unravel what Matic Babič is singing.
Chapter II: These Binds Will Set You Free picks up the story the band started with their debut, and carries the band’s own evolution forward too. The heart of what the band is about stays the same, but countless nuances have crept into their creative process over the past year, and they’ve undoubtedly spiced up the music itself, making it more unique, more experimental and – better.
Lineup
Gašper Letonja – guitar
Matic Babič – vocals
Sašo Paljk – drums
Miloš Milošević – guitar
Nik Franko – bass
Production
Plueg
Tracklist
1. Part I: As We Surrender To Lust
2. Part II: And The Pleasure Of Pain
3. Part III: We Can Descend Into The Unknown
4. Part IV: And Drift Away
