TIME & WITHERING

Noisy, slow and promising debut

This is the debut album of MOUTH OF THE ARCHITECT, released in 2004. The bet for this Ohio-based USA band is to impress not only with their (rather intriguing) name but also with the music. They achieve in both.

MotA can be readily ''categorised'' in the ever-developing genre of post-metal. They mainly incorporate sludge and doom elements in their sound, while their tracks are relatively long, often surpassing the 10-minute mark. In this debut, there are just 4 compositions, with three of them ticking about 11-12 minutes long. The tempos followed in this album are very slow - ''creeping'' would probably be the right description.

As many bands in the post-sludge movement, MotA employ semi-brutal, scream-like vocals that blend nicely with the often chaotic character of their riffs. A few samples accompany their sound, but the use of keyboards is rather limited, leaving the leading role to either tuned-down distorted or clean electric guitars. Apart from the noticeably heavy doom passages (fans of doom will recognise Sabbath and Cathedral-like riffs), there is a more melodic aspect in their music that often interchanges with the heavier parts. This is particularly apparent in A Vivid Chaos and The Worm, in my opinion, the best tracks of this debut.

The more melodic parts often bring in mind bands like ISIS and related from the post-metal genre. The successful blend of doom-like compositions with solid melodic forms is the reason that I regard this debut as highly promising and makes me look further into their discography and bands with similar sound. Not everything sounds original and ground-breaking but surely fans of post-sludge metal will appreciate this recording more than me.

Tasty Post-Metal Treats

I've listened to a fair variety of post-metal over the last year, and much of it quickly becomes monstrously boring. Mouth of the Architect's TIME AND WITHERING is one of the few I can actually listen to on repeat. There is a certain richness of composition on this album that just isn't that common in the genre. Guitarists Gregory Lahm and Alex Vernon utilize a nice variety of tones and atmospheres to move the listener from scene to scene, rather than simply dragging through various shades of brown sludge. Of course, heavy grind colors many of those scenes, but it doesn't become overwhelmingly oppressive.

Some of the music here is simply heavy post-rock, and that's a good thing. While all bands in both post-rock and post-metal are willing to spend long periods of time creating and maintaining moods, most post-metal bands utilize thick riffing while most post-rock bands have multiple layers of repetitive figures. While both can be boring when done poorly, the layering of post-rock usually holds my attention a bit longer. MotA uses elements of both and the music benefits quite a bit.

At the same time, post metal bands sadly are willing to add (usually quite bad) harsh vocals to their music. Mouth of the Architect is one of these, and though their vocals are better than many of their peers, I'm not sure they've done themselves any favors. While making the music even more hellish (which I think is sometimes the intention) it also distracts me. I'm lifted out of the vibe of the music and into critic mode. In general, I think harsh vocals are best used to express desperation, extreme anger, or other specific emotions. As a primary part of the music, they rarely work for me. The vocals on TIME AND WITHERING are tolerable.

The album is composed of four tracks, three of which are in the 10-12 minute range. The compositions aren't especially distinct, and the album runs like one continuous barrage rather than individual tunes. The short "Heart Eaters" may be the most brutal, while the first and last "A Vivid Chaos" and "The Worm" are the most atmospheric and my favorites.

It should be noted that this album was an early example of the genre, and in that framework, was pretty promising. If one were looking for an example of good post-metal to sink their teeth into, this would be a worthy try. 3/5

The departure of MotA, and the back to their roots. "Time & Withering" has been released in 2004 as MotA's debut album, and they've remastered and rereleased this album in 2017, finally. I'm interested and quite curious if they would grab the debut stuff out and squeeze their newer intention into it, and my expectation's been guaranteed obviously.

Easily imagined that the first shot "A Vivid Chaos" should get to be their sound basis. As the title says, vivid, young and promising flavour with hints of some post-metal vanguards can be heard, filled with distorted voices and exaggerated guitar plays, all of which can be thought veteran too, surprisingly. Again mentioned, the basis of MotA. The following "Soil To Stone" sounds deep and onyx leaning towards Japanese traditional (aka 'enka-ish') melody line ... its oriental taste could get sympathized with also by Asian, especially Japanese rock fans. Beautiful atmosphere veiled in hardcore voices and metallic instrumental rumble is another characteristic of MotA, let me say. Impressive is distorted violin vibe like David Cross in the shortest track "Heart Eaters". Heavy guitar attachment as if beneath the deep green sea should completely eat not only our heart but also whole body. Mass of the simple repetition of the same phrase cannot bore us but improve our musical motivation definitely. The last 'must' one "The Worm" could remind the audience of a worm wandering out from the underground, I guess. Along with kind of Krautrock-ish psych-electro texture all around the stuff, dramatic keyboard phrases and massive heavy guitar movements go forward, based upon inorganically strict drumming and bass plays ... like the dark, lonely life of a small invertebrate. Amazing is such a comfortable aftertaste of this track, flooded with warmness regardless of post-metallic loudness and dissection.

Kinda treasure.