A Storm of Light: More than Forgiven
When Brooklyn trio A Storm of Light released their first album for Neurot, last year?s And We Wept the Black Ocean Within, I felt like a dick for not enjoying it. I can?t even put my finger on why, but it seemed petty the way I listened to the record and was bored by feeling as though I?d heard it all on Neurosis discs and how despite guitarist/vocalist Josh Graham?s artistic talent (he handles visuals for Neurosis and does album art for his own band among many others) and his tenure in Red Sparowes and the brilliant and recently-defunct Battle of Mice, suddenly when it was just his show it didn?t cut it. Like I was making an arbitrary choice not to dig the record — though that I never went back to listen to it again backs up the argument to the contrary.
Fortunately, with A Storm of Light?s sophomore outing, Forgive Us Our Trespasses, it?s not an issue at all. My primary gripe with And We Wept the Black Ocean Within was Graham?s vocals, and here, he and bassist Dominic Seita have completely reinvented the process — no easy feat for a band to do between their first and second albums, and all the more admirable for that — honing a cleaner approach instead of the guttural, Scott Kelly/Steve Von Till style that in effect ruined the last record. Graham and Seita trade parts throughout, but are at their most effective when both singing at the same time, as on the ending segment of 11:37 closer ?Omega,? where they lock step in a Dirt-era Alice in Chains-type harmony that ends the album on perhaps its most musically poignant note.
Centered thematically on a visceral environmentalist apocalypse, Forgive Us Our Trespasses starts out with the first part of a spoken word piece with narration by Lydia Lunch in the track ?Alpha (Law of Nature Pt. 1).? Lunch, who shows up again for ?Ace of Failure (Law of Nature Pt. 2)? and ?Time Our Saviour (Law of Nature Pt. 3)? in tracks six and nine, is but one of many guests aligned with A Storm of Light for this effort. 2 Foot Yard?s Carla Kihlstedt contributes vocals and violin to ?Alpha? and ?Arc of Failure,? and Jarboe Herself offers her unique vocal approach to ?The Light in Their Eyes? and ?Across the Wilderness.? Solo artists Nerissa Campbell, Marika Hughes (also 2 Foot Yard), Aaron Lazar and Marc Alan Goodman also show up throughout, and worth noting is that producer/mixer Joel Hamilton is now listed as a member of the band — making them a four-piece with new drummer Andy Rice — on guitar, synth and percussion.
As you might guess, there?s a lot going on with Forgive Us Our Trespasses, but A Storm of Light keep it coherent, aided in no small part by the consistency of theme, which I initially found off-putting but gradually came around to accepting as a suitable companion for their sky-darkening post-metal. The overall tone is oppressively heavy and where the shifts between ambient and crushing were predictable and unsatisfying on And We Wept the Black Ocean Within, here they?re blended together for a new brand of musical heft that sets A Storm of Light apart from generic b-list post-metallers and shows the true potential of the band. I?m relieved to enjoy this album as much as I do, and am glad to have the chance to appreciate the obvious work the band have done to individualize themselves and develop their sound. Like the loyal Neurot nerd I am, I highly recommend checking it out.
Tags: A Storm of Light, Brooklyn, Neurot
