For Week Ending:
27 July 2024

Piah Mater - Under The Shadow Of A Foreign Sun (2024)

[Death Metal (Progressive)]

Although it is often unfair to constantly compare bands similar in style, sometimes the hero worship is so blatant it is hard not to. In the case of Brazilians Piah Mater, the band they are so easily compared to is the metal titan Opeth, and it feels like Piah Mater see it as their duty to pick up the progressive death metal crown that was dropped. Opener 'As Islands Sink' wastes no time diving into the distorted chaos, and launches the album nicely in the direction fans disgruntled with 'new' Opeth have longed for. As a two man band, they manage to weave incredibly intricate harmonic moments into the framework of the bursts of tight death/doom metal, and the hooks are the tempo and stylistic changes coming at unexpected moments. What becomes apparent on repeat listens (regardless of the similarities in style to classic Opeth) is that the band is often willing to take the progressive elements further than their heroes. As examples, the 10+ minute 'Fallow Garden' has a saxophone solo, and the epic closer 'Canicula' has a lengthy passage sung in Portuguese by a female voice before a violin weaves and winds around the guitar line. 'Macaw's Lament' is a short soulful solo guitar arrangement, whilst 'In Fringes' goes in the direction of layered clean vocal harmonies. Overall, the album twists and turns through a death metal / folk interlude template that does seem somewhat familiar (and possibly a little predicable for doing so), but with immense honesty and integrity Piah Mater proves to the metal community that once one band drops out of the race another with a sound so close can easily fill the void if the public are still wanting. It does beg the question though, where is the line between similarity and mimicry?

Arist Information
Piah Mater is a progressive death metal band from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, formed in 2010.

Release Information
'Under The Shadow Of A Foreign Sun' is the third studio album by Piah Mater.

Nine Inch Nails - [With_Teeth] (2005)

[Rock (Industrial)]

Following my previous reviews, you will know that I stray from my music foundations and venture into other sounds that prick my ears up. NIN is certainly one of them. Taking a step back from this release, it's hard to believe these guys cut their chops in the late 80's and had their debut in 1989 with Pretty Hate Machine. Gave us some gems such as 'Head Like A Hole' and 'Down In It'. Arguably their pinnacle was the sophomore full-length release The Downward Spiral in 1994 which many suggest is an influential album in the evolution of music in the early 90s, which was shifting into the grunge era but providing different sounds on the side such as this, equally matching the grunge movement. Interestingly they only released 1 more album in the decade before we get to With Teeth. Reznor is a very smart lyricist and by this time had matured in his approach to his music (he'd just come out of rehab). The first track will likely put off many as it is very much a drum and bass sound with an aggressive vocal toward the end of the song. If that bores you, await the second track which is very much in the old-school phase, particularly the chorus. Classic NIN at this point. The remainder of the album is very much in that industrial/rock sound, which is very mature and controlled with Reznor's vocal perfectly placed in the music. Other song highlights include 'The Hand That Feeds', along with the title track 'With Teeth', a slow burner that builds up brilliantly and then finally 'Getting Smaller'. The difference from this being an OK release as opposed to a great one is the quality of the songs on the final third of the record, which most artists suffer from. Perhaps I need to listen more next time.