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Atrina - In Planetary Sugar (January 9, 2013) |
The best music is also usually the most challenging to write about. How do you describe to someone that which is often times indescribable? How too do you try and categorize that which inherently defies categorization? Therein lies the only problem with the new album from Atrina.
Accurate description is the only problem with In Planetary Sugar because it's an absolutely stunning album in just about every way imaginable and truly does defy easy genre categorization - as Atrina always have. Atrina has been around for a long time, coming and going from the CT music scene, usually emerging with some new awesome material. They've been releasing music since the late 90's, which compared to all the other new music you will hear from CT bands in 2013 seems like an entire lifetime. But sometimes it takes awhile to get the right group of musicians at the exact right moment to make your magnum opus. Front-woman and band mastermind Kelly L'Heureux has done exactly that. That's not to say previous efforts weren't up to snuff. On the contrary, 2008's {beautiful evidence} EP, for example, was exceptional in its own right. However, it stands to be noted that around her she has amassed a stellar line up (Andre Roman on bass, Phil Law on guitar/backing vocals, Dave Parmelee on drums and Ian Kennedy on live visuals) that are able to help her realize her vision of dissonant, angular, potent music that blends and bends influences from genres as varied as doom metal to indie rock to psych rock.
In Planetary Sugar is one of the more beautifully textured releases you'll hear this year. It shifts moods like the winters here in New England - bucolic and serene one moment yet given to fits of arbitrary despair the next. Just like the winter season this album can become claustrophobic at times, encasing the listener in more darkness than they are probably prepared for and only allowing them fleeting glimpses of cold daylight. Metal fans will gravitate to the thunderous cacophony that dots tracks throughout this album. Certain riffs on here, such as those found on "Janice & Joey" and the title track for example, are as dark and plodding as a herd of ancient mammoths. Yet the ying to that yang is that this same album can hold a track like "Boredom In Detail" which absolutely soars with elegance throughout. All the while, even in their darkest, bleakest moments there is a certain type of beauty to Atrina. Just like the person who finds themselves in a desolate log cabin in the middle of a blizzard and can still come to appreciate the power and majesty of Mother Nature so will the listener find the ability to see the tranquility of these songs no matter how exhilarating they get. This album is the perfect musical example of the universal struggle of the light versus the darkness. It is the sun both rising and setting in an aural battle of the bombastic versus the placid. Need a greater reference point? Try The Gathering meets Mazzy Star, fronted by PJ Harvey and doing Neurosis covers. Fans of any of those bands or their contemporaries take heed.
