Canadian band LAST SCATTERING was formed in the spring of 2013, and are based out of Hamilton. “Eidolon” is their debut album, and was released in 2014 through Ghost Vision Records.
When it comes to metal and progressive metal, I have a fairly liberal and inclusive taste for what I like, but can be a bit picky about what I love. Especially when it comes to the more intense varieties of those. Some of the bands active today does make me feel rather old, and Last Scattering is one of these. Following a run through of their debut album, I need to find music of a more relaxing nature. Possessed’s classic “7 Churches” for instance.
These guys are good at what they do, perhaps with a slight exception for some of the clean vocals applied here and there, but otherwise this is a band that could give many instrumentalists a good run for their money. From what I can hear their compositions are fairly demanding exercises as well, and those with a keen interest in the more extreme and demanding varieties of progressive metal should take an immediate liking to this band.
The fairly long compositions here are intense attacks on the senses, with hammering riff barrages and pounding intense riff walls alternating with quirky, fluctuating wandering riff patterns, fairly often with even more intense solo guitar overlays on top. The drum patterns can make a firing machine gun sound like a turtle caught in molasses in comparison, and the rumbling earthquakes beneath is, presumably, courtesy of the bass guitar. Unless they are echoes of the aggressive, growl-oriented lead vocals.
Everything isn’t done at breakneck speed and intensity at 130 however. Delicate, plucked guitar interludes, smooth funk-oriented interceptions and even some reggae oriented detours also have a place inside this quirky metal onslaught, and especially the 18 minute long beast of a closing epic, Matt Damon, have it’s fair share of those moments, giving the listener some breathing space before the next wave of often extreme sound barrages are incoming. There’s also room for a couple of brief, atmospheric laden cuts on this album, that pretty much adds breathing spaces in between the songs that aren’t quite as elongated as this final cut.
This is intense, challenging and demanding material, performed and executed with militant precision, and among the quirkier and most intense productions I can recall encountering for quite some time. On top of the list of this band’s stated influences we find the Between the Buried and Me. From what I can understand, those who have a soft spot for them and other bands of a similar variety should find Last Scattering to be a band well worth investigating.
My rating: 70/100
Very talented young individuals from Hamilton, and this album showed some great promise for the band. However the singer who provided the stage presence and powerful screams was released from the band without warning. His clean vocals did need work and from what I know (Knowing other musicians that surround Ryan) he was taking classes regularly to improve this. It showed less than adequate compassion from the young inexperienced musicians. Later (almost a year) they released their 2nd guitarist Jeff, who actually wrote most of the content on the album and was released on the basis that he was not progressing enough (coming from inexperienced musicians) to keep up with the band. The general public in the scene asked about the band said “We don’t get it”… The decisions as well as the music was confusing to most aside from the occasional musician who enjoyed a scale eating guitarist metaphorically jerking off on stage with his big head and run of the mill Ibanez guitar. Put it to bed… If someone paid you to write a review on a potentially great album 2 years after its release, that’s weak. Besides, from what I hear the band is sitting on a over produced 2nd album that will most likely never see the light of day.