Drummer / multi-instrumentalist Ryan Parrish teams with numerous collaborators on Slow Burning Rage, a self-titled debut. Each track features Parrish and has a slightly different lineup and instrumentation. For example, Parrish typically mans the drums, bass, and guitars, while others might contribute sax, organ, keyboards, harp, voices, additional drums and guitars, and so on. The album has a sludgy metal feel but with atmospheric breaks as well as improvised blowouts. Comparisons to Painkiller and The Flying Luttenbachers can be made, though Parrish tends to be focused on a more deliberate and varied style.
Indeed, there is a certain amount of introspection in addition to pounding rhythms and heavy chording. The keyboard-driven A.L.A.S slowly climbs a textural hilltop, Agonal Gasp employs runs of freely-improvised sax, and Scaphism (Two Boats) combines unsettling ambient soundscapes with driving drum patterns. Despite the sonic diversity of these tracks, there is a consistent underlying tone of menace. Where things get even more interesting is the “drum community” on Dark Thunder… on which Parrish is joined by 13 other percussionists for a dark, primordial excursion.
Slow Burning Rage is a very well-conceived and well-performed genre-defying offering. It comes out on December 17 from Pax Aeternum.
Avant Music News 