ALBUM REVIEW: And All Will Be Desolation – Allfather
It only takes one look at the social media pages for Rochester’s ALLFATHER to get a rather good picture of their views and intentions; an unapologetic four word message opening their Twitter bio and a a bear-sized swipe at the far-right of politics on their Facebook page banner is enough to realise that we’re not dealing with a folk band here. The five-piece have been going since 2013 and caused quite a stir over the past twelve months, a direct result of the extensive interactions across their aformentioned platforms. Time to put their money where their mouth is though – sophomore album And All Will Be Desolation comes out on Friday via Rotting Throne Records.
As alluded, ALLFATHER are not folk – what they are is a combination of sludge, doom and hardcore with riffs from Alan Cordner and Joe Goatham that will cut through you like a hot knife through butter. Opening song Black Triangle is a perfect example: a slow, moody intro picks up considerably until a driving metal track with sludgy overtones is charging out of the speakers and en route to a doomier outro, singer Tom Ballard‘s gruff screeches slicing ever deeper.
Following song Citadels, the lead single from the album, turns a drum intro in an expansive yet ever-stompy piece, like MASTODON if all four members had listened exclusively to DOWN and ELECTRIC WIZARD when growing up. It’s fair to say that the longer, more challenging numbers are further up ALLFATHER‘s street, but that doesn’t stop their hardcore punk standing on its own two feet either, the punchy Jackal’s Night is a perfect foil after the epic colossus of By Sword, By Famine, By Plague which draws on CLUTCH heavily in the middle and segues wonderfully into the aforementioned song with a heavy, sumptuous outro.
The jewel, however, is the wonderful album closer Lampedusa, inspired by an eyewitness account of immigrant problems on the Italian island of the same name. At just over eleven-and-a-half minutes it’s by far and away the longest song on And All Will Be Desolation but its sprawling and enthralling nature do not drift too far from the half dozen songs that have come before it, allowing for an instant engagement and envelopment into ALLFATHER‘s pièce de résistance. The melodic overtones are also worth mentioning; they add another string to the band’s arsenal and, after the sensual battering issued over the previous three-quarters of an hour, are a welcome addition. Despite this change of pace and style, it is delivered with the same confidence ALLFATHER have presented throughout and that’s the cherry on top of the cake – a fine song to finish a very fine album.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about And All Will Be Desolation is that this doesn’t feel like ALLFATHER‘s creative peak whatsoever – there’s easily another gear or two they are still yet to shift into. Given how brilliant this album has turned out, it’s enough to make your spine tingle.
Rating: 9/10
And All Will Be Desolation is set for release on September 7th via Rotting Throne Records.
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