Blighttown Records
7th January 2022
When pressing play on The Blood You Crave, the new album from Post-black metal band Oar from Sydney, Australia, what grabs your attention immediately are the harrowing vocals that explode on the title track. Filled with despair and anguish instantaneously gives you that anxious feeling, which is no doubt the sensation Oar are going for.
‘Post’ is a wide sweeping genre in the metal scene, Post-Black Metal is the most contentious. Many a trve black metal fan have dismissed this sub-genre due to the mixing and experimenting with different sounds, take Sunbather by Deafheaven, for example. What is clearly one of the finest albums of the post-black metal era has been dismissed by those who fly the flag for the raw black metal scene.
But, all that being said, for those with a more expansive taste in the metal scene this is a very exciting sub-genre. Not sticking to the BM template, rather taking the recipe, throwing it into a bowl and mixing in other elements of music within and outside of the metal scene. The outcome (for those who do experiment in the genre) can be an interesting, albeit to some a challenging listen.
2021 was a good year for the metal scene and if this album is anything to go by, then 2022 is looking great. This album is heavy and ferocious, while at the same time it has plenty of sections on the album which give room to breathe. With two tracks book ending the album over 11 minutes each, it is actually a relief to have this lull from the extremity from time to time, prime example being mid-way through Souls Lost in the Frost.
This album has so much variation that it will appease a lot of metal fans. Plenty of feedback and distortion from the guitars backs up the intense, rasping vocals which will have you reaching for a strepsil. The drums are powerful and aggressive yet not overly complex for the sake of it.
In this day and age of digital streaming, the days of going into a record store and picking an album due to its artwork is a thing of the past. When this promo was received the first thing that stood out was the artwork. A remarkable image of a person wrapped in a white blanket bursting with light standing at the edge of a cliff. It is a stunning cover which is mesmerising and haunting at the same time.
There are similarities with the aforementioned ‘Sunbather’ in the composition of the album and the blend of black metal and gazy elements. To say this is just another ‘Sunbather, would be unfair to Oar as they have their own vision on The Blood you Crave. Doomed and damned is a great example of this with plenty of innovative riffs and a lovely galloping double bass passage.
Production wise this is a polished and gleaming output which is a trait of this sub-genre and only adds to the enjoyment of the album. Vocals sit high up in the mix but do not take away from the rest of the band. The producer got the sound of the drums to perfection, the fills executed (especially on the toms) sound amazing, almost like being in the studio.
Oar have a talent of sucking you into their world and not letting go until the final note drowns out on What Once Used to Bloom. It’s great to see Oar flying the flag for their native Australia. Hopefully promoters will get Oar into Europe in the not too distant future. In the meantime, do not let this slip under your radar.
8/10
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