Hailing from Leipzig, Germany, Chakrun opens this split EP (2010) released on German based Cosmic Mother Records. Less than one minute into the song, you get the picture. Mindless riff after mindless riff - without any inkling, or any inspiration at all. After only three minutes, I start to mimic the stupid riff by singing la-la-la-laaa along this instrumental opener.
What's wrong with this track? It's just dumb. It does not move in any way, it even loses its focus after 5 minutes, and oh my god, is that a solo? I'm not sure. The backgrounding soundscape makes Pleurotus even more tiresome. When I want to make fun of stoner/doom/sludge, chances are big I would choose a track by Chakrun. Imagine Spinal Tap doing a stoner song because they have to. The management forced them to, so here you go. And the fun part is, the song lasts 9:35 minutes.
Then, luckily, all of a sudden a new track called Biolumineszenz. Not really looking forward to 10:16 minutes of - likely - more of the same, we hear a song maybe slightly better than the opener. But, here again the same repetitive stuff that makes post rock so utterly boring at times. Again, I can picture myself moving like a Teletubbie across a green sloping field, humming happily along a Chakrun's song with an IQ of 80. Things are not getting any better, but this second song at least sounds decent. If you're sixteen, you wouldn't feel ashamed to let your parents hear this song after one long day in the basement rehearsing. Good job son! To wrap it up, the two songs by Chakrun sound like someone actually forced them to do these songs. I can picture the guys back in their cars after a long day in the studio, enjoying a fresh Coke, and maybe listening to some Lynyrd Skynyrd on their way back home. Or maybe Eminem.
Then, a surprise. There is one evil sounding track called "-", and I'm not sure if it's by Chakrun or Seas Of Stone, but I don't really care. All I can think of is 'Neurosis!', great! This track lasts only 1:58 and morphs into one kick ass song called Inevitable The Drought by Seas Of Stone. Hailing from Dresden, Germany, this band delivers. Adrenaline kicks in, and this is plain awesome. You'll find post rock here too, but in an entirely different fashion than Chakrun. This time, these gentlemen have an idea of what they want to accomplish, and post rocky soundscapes and riffs can be a part of that. The vocals are great, it's screaming but it's singing at the same time, and visually you'll imagine landscapes filled with woods and mountains. I really dig the tempo of this song, every move into a different direction is a surprise, and I really can't name anything bad about this song. Lasting a good 7:23 minutes, I can't help but looking forward to the last song of this split EP called Errantry. Listening to this band, acts like Neurosis and Kylesa come to mind, but also Minsk.
Errantry opens up in a sad mood, slowly filling the atmosphere with thick smoke. Transforming in a Red Sparowesy song structure, I can imagine this band being supported live with great visuals. Then under three minutes into this song, the metal starts to happen, and you have another great song from this Dresden residents. In short, when you buy this EP, skip the first two songs firmly and let yourself be taken by the great last three songs of this album. They won't disappoint you. Seas Of Stone had a demo out (2009), so I guess this split makes it their first release. I'm really looking forward to hearing more from this band, so keep your eyes and ears open. As for Chakrun, well, it reminds me of an experience with a Pearl Jam album, or maybe a Smashing Pumpkins album, in the nineties. Listening to it, I couldn't help but thinking, damn, I wish I could erase this song to make the album great.
To make it even better, you can legally download three songs by Seas Of Stone for free at gimmesound.com, one of them being Inevitable The Drought. 5/10
Sea Of Stone Myspace
Chakrun Myspace
Cosmic Mother
Sea Of Stone @ Gimmie Sound.Com
Review Written By Sandrijn van den Oever
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