12/19/2023 0 Comments Sleipnir bandOpener “Volund” features some lush, grungy chord strumming before everything else drops out and the softness takes over with not-quite-psychedelic, slightly proggy, clean lead lines bringing the tension down. The band tries a little bit of everything here, but they succeed where others fail because of two very important factors: everything is in service of the song, and each song has its own distinct identity, rather than being a mashup of everything all at once. Despite what might seem to be dark (pun intended) subject matter, the album bursts with warm melody, serene beauty and delicate intricacies that shift and wind through all of the aforementioned genres and styles, but incorporating new elements of what sounds to me almost like 90’s grunge and twinkly Midwestern guitar lines. Lyrically, the album explores themes of nighttime and its vast mysteries, dreams, and darkness. On Eventide, the band crafts what they describe as their most sparse and stark album to date, focusing heavily on shifting dynamics, tension and release and an emphasis on softness over crushing heaviness (not that this isn’t a heavy album, mind you). In doing so, they have dabbled in a sonic palette that includes a smattering of the aforementioned doom, but also black metal, post-rock, prog, folk and country. The Denver, CO, ensemble has existed since 2007 and serves as an outlet for primary songwriters David Csicsely (who plays the drums and sings) and Clayton Cushman (bass, guitars and engineering) to explore musical and lyrical themes related to ancient Scandinavian literature. Ever changing and constantly moving like the horse they take their name from, they never quite seem to make the same album twice, and on Eventide, the band further progress their sound while blending in touches of their roots. When The Flight of Sleipnir first came on my radar, it was when I was looking for more doom bands, and someone recommended them to me as a doom outfit to scratch that itch, which they did, but digging even centimeters deeper into their discography shows a band that cannot, and refuses to, be categorized as any one thing in particular.
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