Aspen, Winds of Revenge: Debts Paid to Lilith
Wrapped in a gorgeously-designed cardboard sleeve, Winds of Revenge, the debut outing from Portuguese instru-metallers Aspen is deceptively complex. There are moments of Melvins or High on Fire worship, but there’s a considerable doom lurch that’s balanced off of, and a bit of noise angularity as well. At five songs/28 minutes, it’s well within the EP realm, but there’s a flow between these tracks that could be read as that of a full-length. They’re on the border, either way, and that seems to suit the trio, who likewise skirt the line between stoner and heavier metals, the guitar of Tiago Pereira having more crunch than fuzz and a tendency toward the intense. He and drummer Cristiano Veloso founded Aspen in 2009 and bassist Vitor Oliveira joined ahead of Winds of Revenge’s late-2011 release on Lovers and Lollypops. The tracks they present sound natural, if formative, and their presentation has clearly been thought through – opener “Arashi” is a two-plus-minute introduction that sets up the low-movement doom to come in the EP’s last two tracks, while “Autopsy Headcrush” and “Winds of Revenge,” which follow, are shorter, paced quicker and significantly less centered on ambience. What that shows is that although Aspen have the capability to bruise, they’re not always going to do it. As a result, the cymbal washes and ringing notes of “Arashi” are all the more effective for how it leads into the pummel of “Autopsy Headcrush.”
It would earn points for its title alone, but “Autopsy Headcrush” also works well within the sphere of twisting modern heaviness. The central riff from Pereira’s guitar is winding and complex, but Veloso’s crash cymbal provides an overarching groove even as his snare beats a seemingly insatiable momentum going into the title-track. Vocals aren’t necessarily missing, but they’d fit easily enough over “Winds of Revenge” – a Matt Pike snarl perhaps, or something more shouted – which is decidedly more metal but ultimately doesn’t accomplish either the kick in the ass of “Autopsy Headcrush” or the sonic breadth of “Like Crows, They Drop,” which at 9:26 is the longest cut on Winds of Revenge and longer than the first three tracks put together. Veloso’s drums start out in war-march fashion on the toms, and Pereira soon follows on the guitar and Oliveira fills out on bass, leading to start-stop chugging – the bass drum is especially full and natural – that acts as a set up for a modified version of the bridge to Sleep’s “Dragonaut,” eventually cycling through again before moving onto more complex territory, and, by the time the song is three and a half minutes in, a more shuffling groove that’s still more aligned to stoner metal than the noise rock of “Autopsy Headcrush” or “Winds of Revenge.” The Sleep riff returns at around 4:30 and acts as a transition to more chugging that ultimately gives way to a huge slowdown and the EP’s darkest stretch, with underlying feedback providing a bed for sparse droning guitar and a slow-developing doom lurch.
What’s really exciting about it is how well the transition works. Combining elements out of stoner rock and doom metal is nothing new, but Aspen do it with particular smoothness on “Like Crows, They Drop,” making the song an easy pick for the highlight of Winds of Revenge and shifting mood of the EP is such a way that, before you even realize it in listening, they’ve already pulled it off. Closer “Owing to Lilith” also runs over the nine-minute mark, but is ultimately shorter than that, bringing back the metallicism of “Autopsy Headcrush” – somewhat; there’s something that feels post-metal about the start-stop thunder and tonality of he song after three and a half minutes in – before once more transitioning into a doomed slowdown. They ride that out until about 6:45 (that riff could pretty much be perpetual) before ending, and an organ slowly begins to fade up. It’s a guest spot credited to Fipu, but like the intro, it confirms that Aspen have more in mind than heavy riffing and doomly plod. Those elements work greatly in their favor, especially when put together as skillfully as they are in “Like Crows, They Drop” or the last track, but it’s in further bringing these varied sides together that Aspen could really leave their mark. Even unto its cover art (by André Coelho), Winds of Revenge speaks well of Aspen’s potential while providing a decent, not groundbreaking, listen unto itself – very much a first EP, but accomplished-sounding on that level at the same time. Their ideas and cohesiveness of aesthetic are encouraging and hopefully Winds of Revenge will be the first of many strong outings to come.
