If memory serves me right, when I was a teen circa 1985, there were few songs longer than ten minutes: Jethro Tull’s “Thick As a Brick” which lasted more than thirty minutes and was an entire album and Iron Buterfly’s “Inagaddadavida” which was around seventeen minutes. There were no longer songs and the longest ones were about an average of ten minutes. Art rock, as a tradition, had the longest; Metal, as a matter of fact, had some long songs, but not that long. Well, time went by, Metal changed a lot and subdivided in many subgenres. Doom Metal, one of these subgenres, is specialized in writing long, but long shoegazed songs. Songs generally have a slow and hypnotic cadence. That’s exactly what happens to this Eremit “Carrier of Weight” which has only three tracks and the shortest is more than eleven minutes. The others are twenty-three and thirty-three minutes.
First track “Dry Land” follows exactly the described formula with strong low guitar riffs and vocal that comes from the seven depths of hell. If “Dry Land” were from the 1960s, I’d say it’s worth a good acid trip. Some people think it’s easier to play slow like Eremit do, but in fact, it’s the opposite. Musicians have to pay lots of attention to maintain the rhythm and tempo accordingly. If it’s possible, at the end, I mean the last five minutes, “Dry Land” gets ever slower giving the impression that it will stop at any time. Second track “Froth Is Beckoning” is a complete change of heart. It’s still dark and heavy, but it kicks off with a midtempo guitar riff which takes the song into a minimalist and also hypnotic vibe. Vocals are much more present being almost a regular one. On the third minute though, the song changes completely acquiring a shoegazed grip as well. Midtempo playing is left behind to open space to a slow and low-tuned guitar riffing as “Dry Land.” “Froth Is Beckoning” has more changes in five minutes than “Dry Land” in twenty-three. It almost sounds a different band.
Doom Metal attempts to be the opposite of our modern times. It opposes the slow and shoegazed tempo and movements to the fast and rapid changes that happen in our modern society. It’s a great paradox to confront both times. It takes “Cocoon Of Soul” almost thirty seconds to give us the first sounds. The intro to it is a complete silence. It’s challenging to picture a today’s kid used to fast changes and fast everything sit and listen to Eremit due to its contemplating songwriting.
Eremit “Carrier of Weight” was released on February 25th via Transcending Obscurity Records.
Track Listing:
- Dry Land
- Froth Is Beckoning
- Cocoon Of Soul
Watch “Froth Is Beckoning” official video here.
I’m just a lucky guy who has chosen metal to live with for a long time. Metal changed my life for good. It made me more confident and stronger. Metalheads are naturally far away from the mass mediocrity and don’t accept impostures from anybody else. Metal is more than music, it’s a life changing oportunity!