Labels: Aurora Borealis
Review by: Kunal Nandi
When Aurora Borealis puts something out, you sit up and pay attention. You may never know what to expect, but you know it’ll be good. This Rye Wolves album sounds almost conventional by AB standards, with a traditional power trio setup playing rock and/or roll, but you can’t ignore the fact that it’s one of the most satisfying rock releases of the year. The watercore album title had me dreading yet another band sailing in the wake of Isis and their ilk, and while Rye Wolves are into lengthy track times, it never gets dull. In fact, it maintains a fine balance on a number of things. They sound like a more mad-for-it Neurosis, but integrate Jesus Lizard noise-rock mathiness too. It’s serious and shouty, but chucks in a load of fun Melvins-esque fuzz outs. The riffs are downtuned and chunky, but with a lot of artistic Oxbow-y, Harvey Milkish leanings too. This is an unexpectedly great bit of dense musical roughage.