ALBUM REVIEW: Sables – Vaura

There are few things more hit-and-miss in music than the super-group. Some are so good, they become comparable to full-fledged bands rather than side-projects; THE MARS VOLTA and QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE are examples where the members’ parent bands are forgotten. However, some are self-indulgent messes, hideous tarnishes on otherwise sublime legacies; need we even mention CHICKENFOOT? Thankfully, VAURA falls comfortably into the former camp. Boasting members from acts as diverse as avant-garde auteurs KAYO DOT, tech-death luminaries GORGUTS and arcane sludge-bruisers TOMBS, VAURA offer an entirely unique concoction unlike anything else in their immediate competition.

Curiously, however, there are few traits to be found in VAURA’s music that carry over from the members’ main projects. Their debut, 2010’s Selenelion, was a remarkable amalgam of shimmering-post-rock and pounding-doom metal which borrowed very little from the songwriters’ comfort zones. While failing to set the world on fire, the album was a necessary and well-composed meeting of minds, and put well-deserved eyes on the outfit. It’s been six years since the release of VAURA’s sophomore effort, 2013’s The Missing, which saw the group indulge their interests in ’80s new-wave and stark post-punk. It proved to be a divisive move, but it’s refreshing to see the band stick to their guns on album three and pursue the progression rather than tuck their tails and retreat to normality. In this case, the band have continued to delve further into their wildly eccentric influences, making for a more exciting and thrilling effort than anything they’ve done previously, in this guise.

Each of the performances on this album are worthy of praise. Josh Strawn, of AZAR SWAN, provides an excellent vocal performance as dexterous as it is focused. His tone matches the instrumentation exquisitely, as he blends in and out of the mix with an impressive understanding of dynamics. Kevin Hufnagel, most famously of jazz-metal pioneers DYSRHYTHMIA and more recently of GORGUTS, also boasts a technically proficient performance, and it’s particularly intriguing to hear him on an album so subtle and subdued. However, it is truly the genius of Toby Driver truly shines through on this album. Any understanding of his work, whether with KAYO DOT or his solo material, displays an astounding ear for music and an incredibly diverse palette. His solo-work ranges from progressive rock, to classical and even to chamber music, and here he is able to explore all of it in a band setting, complete with exceptional musicians. One would think limiting him solely to a bass-role would suffocate his talents, but he is able to stretch and bend his capabilities to suit the art time and time again and without him, the album would be far less impressive.

VAURA also enlisted Peter Walsh to helm the production, a man most well-known for working on the final albums by Scott Walker, and he does an absolutely astounding job once again. The album’s scope is complimented perfectly by the stark and spacious production job. It brings a level of class and grace to the record, a totally necessary element for music such as this. It lifts it to a grander plane, and will likely give a longer life-span for the album in the future.

All of this would mean nothing however, if the songs weren’t well-written. Thankfully, the songs produced here are among the finest the outfit have produced thus-far. In only eight tracks, the group explore countless frontiers and push boundaries in ways a super-group rarely does. They usually act as a project of comfortable indulgence for the artists involved, but it’s clear VAURA see this combination as a unique artistic venture, and stretch it for all it is worth. Picking a stand-out song is remarkably difficult, as it is clear that this is an album to be consumed in a single sitting rather than combing through to find specific moments – truly a sign of a great body of work.

This music on offering from Sables won’t be for everyone; it’s rare you’re going to come across someone who wants a band who draw upon EMPEROR, PETER GABRIEL, DEAD CAN DANCE and THE SISTERS OF MERCY. However, for the slim demographic VAURA are targeting, they’re unlikely to find an album more well-suited to them than this all year.

Rating: 8/10

Sables is out now via Profound Lore. 

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