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On the Radar: Carrion Mother

Posted in On the Radar on December 26th, 2012 by JJ Koczan

Formed in 2011, the German five-piece Carrion Mother made their debut this fall with the self-released rumble of Koronis, a full-length demo recorded in their rehearsal space — obviously they’ve got one of those pro-type setups, since the three extended tracks sound better than a lot of records I get around here — in Regensburg. “Earth,” “Giver of Warmth,” and “Venus, Goddess” are embroiled in post-metal tonal crush and doomly lumber, driven by the dual guitars of Raffael D. and Julius K. and the varied screams and clean vocals of Aris S., who affects melodies and rhythmic shouts with apparent ease and knows when to step back and let the ambience hold sway.

And as one might expect for three tracks and a total 48:47, there’s no shortage of ambience. Carrion Mother aren’t as directly indebted to the Neurosis school of riffing, but one can hear a bit of Cult of Luna or maybe even some of Burst‘s thinking-man’s post-hardcore in the latter stretches of “Earth.” It’s largely the guitars responsible for setting the mood, while Fabian B.‘s bass and Joe W.‘s drums lock into complex but still flowing grooves behind. This frees up Raffael and Julius to meander as they will, and Aris to come and go in the manner of Rosetta‘s Mike Armine, able to both convey emotion and scream his lungs out when the song calls for it.

Each of the three tracks starts out soft before unveiling its full brunt, and as the longest, the opener would seem to show the most patience, but once it gets going — just before three minutes in — the intensity of riffing in “Venus, Goddess” more than makes up for any wanting ease in the transition. They build a tower out of that riff, Aris‘ vocals resting further back to let the unified chug come to the fore, and even when they break into the chorus, they hold onto the momentum propelling them forward. “Venus, Goddess” turns what seems like a bridge into a seven minute groove, adding on leads, slowdowns and rhythmic insistence to the core figure only to cap their debut outing with final comedown noodling, symmetrical to the start of each song, but hardly as adrenaline-inducing as the rush they hone at their most active.

Still, especially for a first release and a band who’s been around for a year, Carrion Mother‘s Koronis shows a more than firm grip on aesthetic and sets them up with any number of avenues for growth their next time out. At very least, it’s certainly worth a listen to the Bandcamp stream and all the instant gratification that might provide:

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