Album Review
Empire Auriga hail from Lansing, Michigan and Auriga Dying is their debut which is currently being slung by the inconsistent though endlessly curious Moribund Records. Empire Auriga's sound is a difficult sound to describe. The band states on their website that they have attempted to combine "Black Metal, martial ambient, early industrial, psychedelia and shoegazer into a bewildering, kaleidoscopic canvas that's like no other" on Auriga Dying and it's safe to say that they've done so with flying colors. Channeling a broad range of tonalities from Burzum to Jesu to Nortt, Auriga Dying is one of the more curious releases for 2008.
A large part of what makes Auriga Dying a complete sonic odyssey is how the band has managed to directly inflect all their influences throughout the album and make every song very different. From the morose opener "Time Expanding" to the late- Burzum meets Nortt dirge of "Waiting for the Fall", Empire Auriga covers much of what they've set out to do, per the manifesto on their website. There is a dense and oppressive atmosphere being conveyed here and it works to no end. Auriga Dying doesn't let up at any point and it seamlessly meanders from dense ambient noise to crushing industrial black doom. There's much for the pallete on Auriga Dying.
One might think that Auriga Dying could only afford to be slightly longer. At a scant 37 minutes the album seems like it deserves to be longer, yet it doesn't need to be. By the time "Dust and Ether" rolls around the album's been processed and digested, and the true meddle of Empire Auriga has been made known. I would also think that they would need to introduce some level of melody or some other random element to break up the potential monotony. Something which these guys don't necessarily need, yet. So, to moot my point, the album length is appropriate and Auriga Dying seems like more than it really is, from a purely time-economic standpoint.
If you're a fan of Burzum, Nortt, Godflesh, Jesu or, even better, all of 'em, then Empire Auriga should be first on your list. While there's a lot more going on here than black metal, it's made for the droning black metal legions along with fans of noise, industrial, or any other post-modern interpretation of metal, and it delivers. This is a truly unique release from a band that is poised to release some truly innovative noise in years to come. Highly recommended.
A large part of what makes Auriga Dying a complete sonic odyssey is how the band has managed to directly inflect all their influences throughout the album and make every song very different. From the morose opener "Time Expanding" to the late- Burzum meets Nortt dirge of "Waiting for the Fall", Empire Auriga covers much of what they've set out to do, per the manifesto on their website. There is a dense and oppressive atmosphere being conveyed here and it works to no end. Auriga Dying doesn't let up at any point and it seamlessly meanders from dense ambient noise to crushing industrial black doom. There's much for the pallete on Auriga Dying.
One might think that Auriga Dying could only afford to be slightly longer. At a scant 37 minutes the album seems like it deserves to be longer, yet it doesn't need to be. By the time "Dust and Ether" rolls around the album's been processed and digested, and the true meddle of Empire Auriga has been made known. I would also think that they would need to introduce some level of melody or some other random element to break up the potential monotony. Something which these guys don't necessarily need, yet. So, to moot my point, the album length is appropriate and Auriga Dying seems like more than it really is, from a purely time-economic standpoint.
If you're a fan of Burzum, Nortt, Godflesh, Jesu or, even better, all of 'em, then Empire Auriga should be first on your list. While there's a lot more going on here than black metal, it's made for the droning black metal legions along with fans of noise, industrial, or any other post-modern interpretation of metal, and it delivers. This is a truly unique release from a band that is poised to release some truly innovative noise in years to come. Highly recommended.
|
