A strange amalgamation of post hardcore noise and the atmospheric, building ebbs and flows of Godspeed! You Black Emperor, ADIBAW are if anything, moderately unique sounding, and also seem to be ready to carry the mantle left by defunct The City of Caterpillar, but that also means they will mean very little to the regular readers of this site.
6 songs, 32 minutes, including the vast 11 eleven minute “Outro”, ADIBW, by virtue of their droning structures and elegant yet chaotic ambience could be likened to a screamo based version of label mates Amanda Woodward so then also could share ties with Neurosis. The vocals will be the main point of contention for most metalheads open minded enough to give this a listen as the sparse, forced poetic screams are far too ‘emo’ for most fans, but that being said, there’s enough going on musically to distill the Robert Smith with gall stones crooning.
The builds and eventual crescendos are well rendered with suitably ambient and tasteful pacing and like Neurosis, tend to explode with a controlled yet volatile peak. The delicate acoustic throbs that introduce tracks like “Storming the Bastille”, “The Gaze” and “Outro” are artistic and eloquent without being too ‘drony’ or methodical, rather they come across as more organic, in part due to Kurt Ballou’s (Converge, Curl Up an Die) grainy production. The album is very tidal sounding without the ballistic overtures of Isis, thereby retaining plenty of hardcore/screamo integrity and not quite becoming a more acidic pure ‘metal’ act.
The expansive instrumental “Outro” in true Neurosis fashion, takes its sweet time developing with stark acoustics before well structured if repetitive litanies of drawn out notes sway with a dirge like heft. Its mid point lull is predictably delivered but serves the purpose of enforcing the band's emo/screamo lineage with subtle nods towards Neurosis and Isis.
Another solid if not truly ‘metal’ release from Level Plane, and another album to fire up the knuckle dragging would be lashers that peruse this site looking for Suffocation clones. Hit it kids.