US band STARER is the creative vehicle of composer and musician Josh HINES, a man that has been rather busy in the last couple of years as far as creating and releasing material is concerned: Starer is at least the third band he has released an album with in the last year or so, and he is the central member in all of those bands too from what I know. “18° Below the Horizon” is the first album to be made under the Starer moniker, and was released through the labels Folkvangr Records and Snow Wolf Records at the end of January 2021.
The music at hand here is one I’d generally describe as extreme metal back in the day, and I guess that black metal is the best of the multiple genres of metal to pinpoint this one when detailing a bit further. From my point of view at least the album also has some direct nods back to the first wave of black metal bands in the manner in which the album is mixed and produced, with a closed in and slightly muffled sound at the core that to me sounds intentional. Especially as individual instruments are allowed to break through and become more substantial and even dominant.
As one might surmise form such a description. my impression is that all of the compositions here have a wall of sound effect as something of an identity mark. In this case a more restrained variety of it, dampened and distanced rather than massive and overpowering, and where subtle fluctuations in tone alongside some nice drum details here and there provides enough minor variations to maintain tension and interest. In addition something of an ever present and fairly dominant keyboard motif is placed on top, light, cold and bringing with it a mournful presence that makes me think of strings and occasionally the cello. The vocals are of the croaked and frayed variety, and have been placed deep into the mix, and acts just as much as a noise effect as they do as providers of lyrics. The drums are also mixed fairly deep into the mix, and as all the songs have liberal amounts of intense, pummeling drum foundations this choice fits the premises fairly well, I’d say.
What makes this production something more than a one dimensional journey into bleakness is that Hines allows his songs to breathe. The pace and intensity will drop from time to time, slightly calmer transitions and slightly more melody and harmony oriented passages are allowed in too. Not to a massive extent, but in the less intense passages the mood and atmosphere reminds me ever so slightly of bands like Killing Joke and Vulture Industries, and some of the bass lines actually gave me a wee bit of a new wave association too, and on a single occasion there may have been an ever so slight flavor of indie rock brought into the proceedings. Hines is clear about post-rock being a part of the totality here too of course, although I suspect deep and intent listening is required to reveal all instances of instruments used to provide textures throughout in these bleak and unrelenting excursions.
Just how broad of a reach an album like this will have is something I’m uncertain of. This isn’t an album to seek out if you want to get to know music that will be popular in the genre and that will be inviting also to people who don’t normally enjoy this type of music. I suspect that at least some fans of an artist like Bathory as well as those who treasure the first albums that emanated from the Norwegian black metal scene back in the day may appreciate the charms of this production, but while similar in some aspects it is also vastly different in other areas. But amidst that audience I suspect there will be quite a few who will get what this album is all about. Personally I found this production to be an intriguing experience, and the bleak and subtly fluctuating landscapes to be rather hypnotizing.
My rating: 80/100
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Links:
https://www.facebook.com/starermusic
https://www.facebook.com/SnowWolfRecords
https://www.facebook.com/folkvangrrecords
