THE MANTLE

A simple acoustic guitar track with some percussion and we are off. We are off on a journey into the woods and forests of life, and to the rivers and streams of reality. It is not known where these woods and waters will lead us to but there is one thing that can be assured, it will be a grand and beautiful journey.

The album starts with the aforementioned acoustic opening track, titled "A Celebration for the Death of Man" and is nearly as simple as it gets. It is nothing more than an acoustic guitar playing over a simple drumbeat and some ambient sound effects, but will serve as the backbone for this album over the course of the eight following tracks. It is here that we hear the influence of Death In June, an acclaimed neo-folk project.

After this opening track, we take a step away from the edge of the forest and dive deeper into the thick, dark wonders that lie ahead. The dark wonders that lie in the forest are much like those found in the second track of the album, "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion," strange, and fearful, yet beautiful beyond all words. Here we get our first dose of the true atmosphere that this Portland, Oregon based trio can really create. The vocals shift between harsh and clean, but do not despair, neither style of vocals over power the actual music itself. They are there simply to deliver the message that is to be delivered and to enhance the atmosphere itself. Due to this, the vocals are almost a monotone and show very little variation. This however, is not a sign that they are emotionless, in fact that are just the opposite. The song continues and after two beautiful guitar solos it transitions into the third track, quite perfectly with the use of the sound horse hooves pounding along the ground.

Deeper yet into the forest we go, and where do we find ourselves but at the center of a vast bedazzling snow covered landscape. The trees are all barren and leafless, but the blanket of snow and ice more than makes up for the seeming lack of life. As we look around us, we find that there is more life here than what was first visible. In the distance, there is a deer, which is calmly wandering amidst the frozen maze of trees. We approach it slowly and carefully to avoid scaring it into running. As we are walking towards it, you step on a stick, snapping it. It makes a soft cracking noise that alerts the deer and sends it running off. "Odal" is an instrumental that is led by simple acoustic guitar playing, background ambience, and very fitting drum work. It is a very simplistic track nearly reaches the eight-minute mark. Despite its lengthy running time, it is never even once boring. The simplicity of this track is easily its appeal. About three fourths of the way in, a piano begins to lead the song to its end, but before that can end the track, we hear the wind blowing and a wooden chime clunking its way into the next track.

Further through the woods we walk, past the rabbits and foxes and into even deeper parts of the forest. Here we see a small wooden cabin, one that seems to not have been used for years, as the wooden door that seals its opening was caked with not just ice, but dirt as well. The build up is thick, nearly an inch. Wishing to gain entrance into this building, you walk to the door, and knock at the ice. It does not even crack, so we go searching to find a rock to smash it with. After about ten minutes of wandering we find a tall tree that could only be identifies by the few acorns scattered around the ground near it. He we clear away some snow to make a place to sit. The oak seems to be the forests guardian, as it makes us feel safe and yet assures us that we are not welcome here if we harm anything. After some more lounging, you spot a rock, and we head along our way after collecting it. The track "I Am The Wooden Doors" is the heaviest song on the album, but even that is saying very little as it is still filled with acoustic guitars. It has good electric guitar riffs and great drum work. Vocals again make an appearance in this song, and are the same harsh, tasteful, and intelligible rasps and soft humming clean vocals that, as with "In The Shadow Of Our Pale Companion" serve nothing more than to increase the atmosphere. At parts, you can hear the fret board screeches, but they are very limited and only add to the natural feel this album possesses. The song ends with an acoustic lead into the next track, "The Lodge."

As we trudge along through the snow, the cabin once again comes into sight. We rush forward to get to the door of it. You bend down and shatter the ice with the rock, and then scrape the dirt away. After we are afforded our entrance into the lodge, we realize that it is empty, nothing left inside of it aside from the outlines of furniture of the past owners. Disappointed we turn away from it and begin our trek through the forest. "The Lodge" is another instrumental that is filled with acoustic guitar work as well as two very interesting instruments. These two instruments are the contrabass and deer antlers used for percussion. They add a unique vibe to the song and possess an almost kind of dreary sound to them. This track is much shorter than the past three songs and almost leaves you wanting more, but these wants are certainly erased when the next track kicks in.

Upset at this empty promise of comfort we move along, swiftly to find shelter from the cold. As we walk memories of loves past enter our head and bring tears to your eyes. We walk closer together, hoping to find a big enough tree to sit under and let our sadness flow out of us. We walk through the deep snow, until we reach a trail where we see a tall oak at the end. As we walk towards it, you become slowly overcome with grief, and tears fall faster down your cheeks. As we near the tree you utter out whispered curses, you damn the tree to calm your soul. Calmed down from relieving yourself of the misery we continue to walk. "You Were But A Ghost In My Arms" brings back the slightly heavier sound of "I Am The Wooden Doors" and shares many of its characteristics, such as the switching between of harsh and clean vocals, as well as acoustic and electric guitar complimenting each other. The drums are simple but effective. There is a spoken word passage that is followed by a dialogue piece seemingly about a man who was left by a woman, and how he questions why she left him. After the piece, the song becomes instrumental for around two minutes. Soon it is led to a close and leads into the next song.

After releasing your anger we walk in silence through the rest of the dark forest realizing that it is now dusk. Having nothing to say we walk along side each other. "The Hawthorne Passage" is the next and last instrumental on this album, and it spans an astonishing 10 minutes. For the first half of the song it is a basic acoustic and electric guitar song accompanied by drums, played in a very post-rock influenced way, especially mid-way through the first half. It slows down quite a bit and leads into a climactic guitar solo which then ends up back at the same formula as before. About halfway through the song we are greeted by the sound of cars driving over a bridge, this is soon followed by the guitars coming back in, and then by the drums. A trombone makes an appearance near the end of the song, which ends with spoken word in a non-English language. The song leads into the next right after the spoken word.

Distraught and saddened by the memories you continue to walk, but with your head hanging down. I hold onto your hand and comfort you by whispering an old proverb that your grandmother you to tell us when we were younger, to calm you down. While depressing in nature, it had a sense of "everything happens for a reason" feel to it. We soon reach the edge of the forest and find an old fire pit. There I look for some rocks, dry leaves, and sticks. We sit on two large stones that are surrounding the pit, and I try and start a fire by creating sparks with the rocks over the leaves and sticks. In a few short minutes, a small fire burns before us. ".And The Great Cold Death Of The Earth" signals the near end of the album, with the return of the mostly acoustic guitar work that was present in the opening track. It is similar in set up as the other tracks, with alternating clean and harsh vocals and acoustic and electric guitars playing together with a simple drum pattern going on. The contrabass and trombone also make their return into the album with this song. Around the two minute and forty-five second mark, we are treated to an acoustic guitar solo. In between the two clean vocal passages is a Cherokee proverb that is sung in harsh vocals. Near the end of the song, the same acoustic guitar pattern and bell work is brought back in to close the track, and lead us to the albums final song and our last few minutes on this journey.

We sit at the fire together but alone, I pull out two flasks of whiskey from my coat pockets and pass one to you. We drink from them until we are drowning in the liquor instead of our sorrows. The fire keeps us warm and comfortable. Slowly we grow tired and lay down, put to rest by exhaustion and the power of the whiskey. The final track on this amazing journey is "A Desolation Song" which is not more than the acoustic guitar accompanied by the contrabass and an accordion. The lyrics are whispered and reflect a man drinking around a fire. Part way through the song a mandolin comes in, and then the song continues with the same acoustic format until the end where a blowing wind closes the album out.

This album is not what anyone could sanely call and album as it is much more. It is a total experience and will make you fell every emotion you have inside of you before it is over. It is a very unique experience and must be listened as a whole to get the full effect. Due to this there are no standout tracks on this album, but when you are entranced by the awesome music you will not be caring about the tracks at all, rather the constant stream of musical perfection.

This is an album that is well worth buying even if you are not one to typically buy albums, as it is something to be proud of to just be able to say that you own the album. Make sure you rush out to get this, but do not rush the listening experience and make sure you savor every little moment of it.

Originally Written For Metal-Archives.