A little over a year ago, I wrote a review of Autolatry's EP, Of the Land, and enjoyed it quite a bit. After a listen to their latest full-length release, these boys have traveled a long distance in both songwriting and musicianship. In continuation of their "New England Black-Metal" theme, the band has crafted Native as "a concept album telling a tale of Native American assimilation at the time of the colonial settling in New England."
While Of the Land felt like a more straight-forward folk-laden black metal release, Native takes this template and pushes it into a more progressive direction, especially on soaring epics like "Waning Moon", which reminded less of Krallice and Agalloch and more of bands like Tombs, Katatonia and The Ocean. That's not to say those previous influences don't come out at all, they definitely do (especially Absu), but the band has found new ways to stretch its wings and flee the nest of their early sound. Admittedly, a couple of these songs could have been a bit shorter, as some moments tend to drag on the listener a bit. But aside from this minor element of taste, there is little to complain about on Native.
Native is a thoroughly engaging and consistent release, one which boasts several highlights, especially the blistering opener "Colony" and the dizzying epic "Pale Dishonour". I particularly enjoyed singer Karl Chamberlain's clean vocals during the bridge section of "Pale Dishonour". With a longing, raspy delivery, this is a tool he should use much more often, as it added some unexpected color to the already excellent, solo-laden piece.
Oh, and there's a saxophone on "Setting of the Sun". A saxophone on a folk-BM record! A surprise doubly helped by the punishing assault of "Native", a pure no-nonsense metal boot to the face. So what you have here is a solid release from an excellent group of young musicians. If you haven't checked these guys out yet, I cannot endorse them enough. A band who takes black metal to new places in such an effective way deserves far more attention, and I don't say that because I'm friends with Dave, or because I'm from New England as well. Don't believe me, check it out for yourself:
8/10
Favorite Songs: "Colony", "Pale Dishonour", "Native"
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