NORD

Year of No Light is a post-metal band from France and NORD is their debut album. While all post-rock and post-metal can be hypnotic, YoNL is mind-numbing. They seem to know their genre well, but their take on it is quite color-by-numbers. The band insperses sludgy riffs with some semi-clean post-rock strumming and melancholy leads. These are standard for the genre, but none really ascend to the level of cold beauty that some bands achieve. This elusive quality is what separates dull, boring work from the mildly sublime. On NORD, YoNL sits firmly in the former category. Their black-ish harsh screamed vocals do absolutely nothing for me. None of the riffs are memorable. Melodies are cookie cutter.

Some who enjoy the new black ambient works might get more out of this record than I do. If having music that evokes the sound of suffering through a migraine appeals, then NORD is your album. Perhaps sitting in a dungeon in sweltering 110 degree summer heat. The heaviness is there. The feeling of oppression is communicated. Occasionally there is a little trippy vibe that I can identify as something other than unpleasant. But there are certainly no surprises, no signature elements to move this album out of the genre's pack. Frankly, the album is pretty boring.

The clean parts are much better than the heavy sections, but unfortunately those occupy less than 1/4 of the album. Even so, every true post-rock albums has ten times as many good ideas. I reserve 1 star reviews for truly aversive, painful stuff. This is just dull.

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