Tuesday, July 15, 2014

CD Odyssey Disc 640: Bison BC

I’m on an early shift at work, which means I am walking in at a very early hour. You see some weird stuff in Victoria’s quieter moments.

For example, yesterday I saw a bike with a large plush doll of Kermit the Frog strapped to the frame. Then today, about a block away, I found a lone green arm which I was almost certain was Kermit’s, severed and left in the street. What hell had Kermit endured in that 24 hours? Had he fell in with a bad crowd or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Would Sweetums take his terrible revenge on those responsible? My sleep-deprived mind wandered darkly.

Ahem.

Well, this next band isn’t afraid to let their minds wander darkly.

Disc 640 is….Dark Ages
Artist: Bison B.C.

Year of Release: 2010

What’s up with the Cover? All must kneel at the altar of the  fire dragons! Is this altar the harbinger of a second dark age, as per the album title? The drawing could certainly use some Renaissance perspective work.

How I Came To Know It: My friend Ross introduced me to Bison with a song called “Slow Hand of Death” off of their 2008 album “Quiet Earth” (reviewed way back at Disc 192). I liked “Quiet Earth” a lot so decided to give them a shot on their next album.

How It Stacks Up:  I have two Bison B.C. albums, this one and the aforementioned “Quiet Earth.” “Quiet Earth” is by far my favourite.

Rating:  2 stars

My first exposure to Bison BC brought back all my love of heavy metal as smoothly and subconsciously as muscle memory. Two years later, “Dark Ages” has all of the same ingredients that had me falling for this band, but somehow failed to connect the same way.

“Dark Ages” chugs along with the same visceral energy. It has the same pounding guitar chords and the band is just as tight, but for some reason it lacked the signposts I needed to get into the record.

The vocals have that guttural doom quality that would have once filled me with dread and awe but now feel kind of shouty. One thing I really like about the previous album’s song “Slow Hand of Death” is that I could understand them when they sing “Slow hand of death!” during the chorus. Maybe I couldn’t hear the rest of the lyrics, but I could hear ‘slow hand of death’. It was strangely comforting to at least know what was going on, even if it was some form of creeping death.

I don’t expect this doom metal sound to be focused on the lyrics, but occasionally I would like to hear them. The opening track, “Stressed Elephant” is about elephants taken into captivity, and never forgetting their destroyed lives, as they dream of revenge for the crime done to them. It is awe-inspiring and thoughtful, and I’d like to better understand it.

The song arrangements on “Dark Ages” are dense even for metal, with a thick miasma of sound on almost every track. They push the loudness pedal all the way to the floor when taking the foot off the gas just a little would have made these songs that much better. As it is, I couldn’t quite get my ears around them.

The songs are very long (46 minutes of music in only seven songs) but for the most part the band knows when to advance the musical concept so they don’t drag. “Fear Cave” in particular is nicely divided up into equal parts dread and power.

It was also nice to see the Wendigo trilogy completed. On “Quiet Earth” we had “Wendigo Pt. 1 (Quest for Fire)” and “Pt. 2 (Cursed to Roam).” “Dark Ages” adds “Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn),” which is the best of the bunch and also conveniently explains why that quest in Part One was so important.

The first album was a go-to album for me when writing my last book and a bit of a sentimental favourite, but the magic doesn’t repeat on “Dark Ages.” There is a lot to recommend this album, particularly for those who love heavy music, but it didn’t emotionally connect to me the way I need this kind of music to. As a result, I am going to pass it along to someone who will appreciate it more than I did.


Best tracks:   Fear Cave, Wendigo Pt. 3 (Let Him Burn)

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