ALBUM REVIEW: Caldera – Pillar Of Light
Intensely brooding, savagely captivating and all-round heavy weight death doom. That is what is in store with the new album Caldera from PILLAR OF LIGHT. The Detroit based quintet have compiled a sound rooted in powerful sludge/doom that bubbles and simmers through brutalist death metal culminating in a triumphant delivery. Looking to make their mark with a debut of seven tracks dripping with melancholia, it’s a bold statement to leave at the end of a stacked year.
A slow burn, that is the best way to approach the intro. Wolf To Man builds from humble acoustic and piano beginnings. Layering instrumentation before the anguished vocals come in, offering a harsh juxtaposition to the sedate compositional build. Then, the inevitable drop, the weight crashes in, waves of doomy passionate intensity are delivered and wash over the whole of the proceeding track. The sense of space created is enthralling and serves perfectly to set up the journey.
The instrumentation still has an air of restrained menace through the majority of the next tracks. As if it is a creaking damn holding back the impending torrent of crushing sentiment. The guttural vocals strain with raw emotional aggression. While the music smoulders in the foundation. Then the cathartic break, in the form of Spared. We are offered the first glimpse of the restrained might let loss and given the first proper opportunity to let loose. Swinging like a sledgehammer and cascading riffs aplenty, this is only part of where PILLAR OF LIGHT are heading on this album, a pressure valve going off but not quite releasing all the energy.
The latter half of Caldera, ebbs and flows, delivering shining moments of expert musicianship, soaring melodies compete for attention amongst the punishing rhythms and thunderous riffs. However, it’s clear that PILLAR OF LIGHT are once more building to a pre-determined point. The crowning statement of which is the final supreme crescendo in the form of Certain End which does not disappoint.
While the foundation of grinding sludge mixed with the oppressive death doom, may at times seem ponderous and smothering. The song writing and structure exploits these feelings to the maximum allowing the crescendo moments on tracks such as Wolf To Man and Certain End to explode through and the effect is utterly transportive. Driving the music to a stratospheric height, tinged with euphoria, it perfectly counterbalances the doomier intensity. The death elements are still held with a forceful magnitude with the vocals at all times carving a clear path through the entire mix.
With Caldera, PILLAR OF LIGHT have delivered a dramatic and potent debut album. They’ve not sought to reinvent the wheel when it comes to death doom. They’re also unlikely to topple any heavy weights of the genre from top spots. However, Caldera enthrals from start to finish. With undeniably talented musicianship and intelligent approaches to song writing and structure, they have developed a magnificent sound. As a debut it is the perfect foundation from which to build and it is likely that PILLAR OF LIGHT will be make an impressive mark upon the death doom genre in a relatively short space of time. Crushing yet immensely enjoyable, there’s still time left for a late entry in the AOTY list.
Rating: 8/10
Caldera is out now via Transcending Obscurity Records.
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