The self-released, self-titled debut full-length from Columbus, Ohio’s Before the Eyewall is the kind of record that’s going to surprise a lot of people who hear it in a very positive way, and by that I mean it’s really fucking heavy. An instrumental guitar, synth, bass and drums three-piece, the band formed early in 2010 after drummer Aaron O’Brien-Eichman and guitarist Garrett LoConti (both also provide synth) split from the post-metal outfit Kenoma (one might recall their 2006 split with Mouth of the Architect) and issued an ambitious 25-minute single-track demo in 2011 and joined forces with engineer Brian Whitten to capture the sonic largesse of the four-song, 43-minute Before the Eyewall, an album whose intricacy is telegraphed by its artwork. Featuring bassist Scott Hyatt alongside O’Brien-Eichman and LoConti, the band runs through three extended tracks and a concluding section of ambience across the course of “Skyrises” (9:18), “Path of Ash and Desperation” (15:52), “Tome of the Concentric Eye” (14:24) and “Skyfalls” (3:28), finding symmetry in its first and last titles and no shortage of tectonic aural crush in between. There are elements of post-metal lurking about in some of the ambient/heavy switchoffs and tidal riffy plod, but even at their most atmospheric, Before the Eyewall don’t succumb to the trap of redundancy in which so much latter-day post-metal is caught, “Skyrises” leading off with a fitting build of feedback hum and cymbal wash before LoConti announces the start of the lurching, angular progression with guitar howl and deep Sunn-amped tonality counteracted by the airier lead work that ensues. Smoothly and patiently, they unfold the interwoven heavy and ambient changes and tempo shifts that will mark the bulk of the next three tracks, repeating parts but never really announcing any singular movement as the chorus or leaving anything unchanged. Still, the flow they create over the course of the nine minutes of “Skyrises” is remarkable and the quiet intro to “Path of Ash and Desperation” suitably hypnotic, giving a sense of tension even at its stillest points.

With the extended runtimes of “Path of Ash and Desperation” and “Tome of the Concentric Eye” and the bookending effect of the titles “Skyrises” and “Skyfalls,” it’s hard not to think of the half-hour plus the middle two tracks represent as the “meat” of Before the Eyewall’s Before the Eyewall, though neither the opener nor the closer lack substance. Still, it you’re going to get lost anywhere within the full-length, it’s probably somewhere in the two longest cuts, the first of which launches after the two-minute mark into a heavy-stomping lumber of a groove that persists and introduces a kind of post-Mastodon (though played much slower) sense of weight before coming to a head and transitioning into a more ambient movement as it makes its way past eight minutes. The atmosphere remains dark without being cartoonish, and the stage is set for an increasingly noisy build that plays out over the course of the second half of the song, Hyatt’s bass rumble at the fore while LoConti’s guitar tosses out atmospheric notes prior to a stop and then resurgence of the full-bore crashing, one more shift into psychedelic ambience and then a faster, concluding push that winds up one of the album’s most memorable riffs, given its due over the course of the last two minutes before stopping cold to make way for “Tome of the Concentric Eye,” which resets the band’s position and essentially starts the build over from scratch. Here too, Before the Eyewall take their time in unfurling the complete heft of the song, but in the meantime, the interplay of LoConti’s guitar and Hyatt’s bass is the best of the record and O’Brien-Eichman does well in holding the progression together with a slow march, ride cymbal flourish and a tension that finds its answer in a slowly chugging riff contrasted by bass melody (yes, it exists) and guitar echoes reminiscent of some of Leviathan’s glorious noodling. There’s a break, as expected, and though the shift isn’t as smooth as the cut before, the effect remains strong thanks to O’Brien-Eichman’s ability to keep the piece in motion with rich cymbal work excellently captured and mixed and a structure to the following build reminiscent of “Path of Ash and Desperation” that remains distinct from it.

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