Cosmonauts Day - Live Demos EP ...

What is our heavy Russian reality, is it our domestic underground scene: first off-shoots of psychedelic stoner, aggressive sludge and complex post metal are literally just started to break the eggshell of the deposits of heavy metal, piles of thrash, tumors of brutal death, pale shrouds of mournful death doom and blackish obscurantism. As swallows in the spring - first one came, and then the bloody pack! Quartet of Muscovites has fallen on our heads this time - Cosmonauts Day burn the road with artfully composed post sludgy metal, and I can’t deny that they have the necessary skills for such stuff.

Well, that's right, probably I could say "these guys listened to much of Isis and Neurosis", but it seems that they just didn’t get a good man with a big beard and harsh growl to chant the lyrics, therefore “Live Demos” is an instrumental release. Weight, strength, melody, a bit little of sophistication and a sense of proportion - this is the right recipe of post sludge from Cosmonauts Day. And it’s needless to say, this quartet consists of people who know how to hold their instruments, for example, there’s noted participants of such bands as EndName and Lord of Doubts, I guess you have heard of them. All four tracks from "Live Demos" sound more than integral, and I can not take compare them to the number of mediocre demos of some profane new bands.



The story begins with "Cave of Trees", on which the men decided to show the level of their skills and inclination to write "clever" music: an eight-minute song gets sheer sludge heaviness and a clear, slightly forced, pressure. But I rarely ever seriously worried about the technical side of the process, so more attention was attracted by the second track "Eashmeah", distinguished by a deep and intense atmosphere though it’s not so heavy as "Cave of Trees" is. Main melodic lines sounds natural even when the pace changes dramatically fast and the very post-settlement looks very warm due to the lack of cold and clearly defined "design idea". If the first track demonstrates sludge-side of Cosmonauts Day, and the second one opens in the best shape of post-incarnation, then the third, "Scott Von Scogin", to a greater extent than both earlier songs, shows the fusion of these styles.

Again we hear the pile of riffian constructions, dashing batch from a variety of passages and leading post-plots which replace them very accurately; these musical paintings are multifaceted and emotionally versatile, so I see no reason to dismember each song and examine it under a microscope. However, a sense of proportion is inherent to Cosmonauts Day, and it’s very important for representatives of this genre, I remember few famous progressive or post projects which were too difficult to listen and enjoy because of their lengthy songs. They may be great taken out their tunes but it was too much, it seems that these bands simply forget that they want to say! And Cosmonauts Day know when to stop in time so that all was well. There is only one song left on this album, it’s "The Last Watchman" – the track with a psychedelic, almost ambient, relaxing main line. Frankly, the relaxation component in the first three numbers is hardly present, so much that this track has fallen very much out-of-place. Well, thanks – it works!..

There remains a little room for the medical opinions, and I have no choice but to wait for the dénouement in the form of a larger release from Cosmonauts Day because of the patient’s stability and clear-cut symptoms. "Live Demos" is very strong for a début; you can download the EP at the link posted below, and personally check it.

Review Written By Aleks Aleks Evdokimov





Download “Live Demos”: Cosmonauts Day @ Bandcamp
Cosmonauts Day @ Myspace