Smote – why?
Smote´s fourth opus, A Grand Stream, will be played in full at Roadburn with the mastermind behind the band, Daniel Foggin, at the helm. And it’s pretty amazing that this treasure chest of musical twists and sounds can be performed live - so this is an immersive experience not to be missed.
Smote´s music has been labeled as Folk Drone both because of the instruments used and the melodies emerging from the ever-changing whirlwind. In the first song on the album, the pace is slow as Funeral Doom and swirls slowly around a captive meditative folky musical theme in repetitive drone-ish mode.
The album contains music to have patience with, these are tracks where you sit out, and each time it changes a bit as you discover new elements in the textured layers, themes, and instruments you had not heard before. It is not exhausting droning, it is repetitive and pulsating, mixing eerie with soothing.
The album continues with foreboding sounds in the distance, delicately melted together with eleven minutes sounding like they’re seeping through an enchanted forest. A weak rhythm sets in and the music widens out as a magical flute begins to swirl in the clearing of the wood. The music lifts forming the track´s theme, and the song develops from eerie to calm.
The last two tracks are heavier and denser than the previous. It builds slowly through a stream of sound and string rubbing before it turns in a heavy direction with changes deep in the layers, eventually melting into part two, which is a prolonged, engaging, discordant, and distorted track with hidden gems and melodies and vocal parts.
Oh, did we mention that all the tracks add up to 76 minutes of Folk-Drone bliss? If you want to forget where and when you are, do not forget:
Smote will perform A Grand Stream in full on Friday, April 18!
