Old Soul - Who Are Willing To Draw Close (2012)

 Full Length, Dingleberry Records / IFB Records / East Train Records
 2012

Genre: Blackened Hardcore/Post-Rock/Black Metal/Post-Hardcore
Region: USA

Apparently I missed this last year as well. Who Are Willing To Draw Close is something I came across by accident and I think it's pretty sweet. I'm sure the combination of genres will pissoff a few people out there and normally I'm a little wary of such mixtures these days, but like I said this turns out to be very enjoyable. Containing only four tracks Old Soul's second album should have got a little more attention.

Five guys from Mount Pleasant that are experimenting and coming up with some sounds worthy of your time. Both of Old Soul's present releases are short and sweet, realistically EPs but the content is pretty sweet. I would describe their compelling style as Celeste channeling Darkest Hour through a haze of post-rock and black metal; maybe Alcest, Krallice or Wildernessking. Actually Dweller On The Threshold are doing a similar thing but in a more folk Do Make Say Think kind of direction.

Right from the opener "Crater" you know this is as least going to be a little different. The clean bends in the beginning of this track remind me of a few moments from Skagos' "Colossal Spell" or Godspeed You! Black Emperor's work. It takes a almost mid-east tone before erupting into chaotic blackened distortion, swirling and slowly breaking down and tangling with Celese-like dark hardcore until the finally volley — mellifluous and aggressive, suddenly post-hardcore is thick in the air. It combines with the black metal to make an almost Alcest beauty flowing in the twinkling black haze. They don't rest on this for long though and break into the next track quickly.


This is the pattern that gets put through some creative paces within the next three tracks, feeling legitimate and never staying longer than wanted in its experimentation. 'Twin" goes from wailing black tones to a more playful progressive chord section and back again. Amongst this strange mixture organs and children spoken word samples ("Forest" and "Tundra") weave their way comfortably enough into some tracks. avoiding cheese nicely. "Forest" is the one track that feels very much on the post-hardcore side of the tracks for the first two minutes before the climax which is a massive but quick blackened explosion, repeating only once near the end after a particularly melodic clean build.

All the tracks have this undercurrent of placid sadness that works its way out in the clean moments, "Tundra"'s intro for example. That track is another where the screamo/post-rock influences reign, and the bass is far more showcased (though the production doesn't cover it up elsewhere).

I think the record could be a little louder and maybe longer but not by much on that last part. Song lengths here are perfect and offer great variation without stumbling. The spoken samples don't feel necessary but they really don't derail the music either. The vocalist hits perfect shredding rasps and at times lets them bleed into anguished cries, percussion and bass/guitar work is complex and with purpose — there's no wankery or needless busyness and that goes for the ambient/post-rock elements too. If anything there's more to be explored here and hopefully they push it further with the following record.

Recommended especially if you like Celeste or some of what Dweller On The Threshold was fucking around with. If you want a taste go to their soundcloud page, and if you like it there's a couple of places you can get it from like Halo of Flies, Scream//Writhe, etc. or directly from them over at their blog where they have a download link to both records (here's a direct link to the store). They have bandcamp as well so you can download shit for free there as well.

The new record called "Tidal Lock" is coming soon as are shows I believe so check their facebook for updates on that stuff.

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