One of the major problems for many Post-Metal bands is to balance fragile, intimate moments on the one and hard, crushing parts on the other hand. Enter Glacier who seem to have taken this formula to new heights for themselves and also for their genre.
The quintet from Boston, Massachusetts, released their third full-length A Distant Violent Shudder and it surely shows a band reaching new peaks in their songwriting and the layout of their soundscapes. One really feels the shudders alluded to in the album title, for there is a certain kind of short-fused repetition or echo on the drums that easily create that feeling of creeping up on your arms and up to the neck to let your hair stand on end. This little tiny echo creates just the right amount of lapse to let your brain fill the minimal void and create your personal image, which is one of the key elements of good instrumental music, right? Interestingly this little quivering image might be hinted at in the record title - “distant … shudder”, because that’s what you get when listening to this cool record. Shivers up your spin, that little shudder.
However, the record also has a certain “violent” part, or let’s rather say a certain “harder” part. Not that you could divide the record into a violent and an elegant side, no, both are nicely interwoven in order to make the extremes stand out a little more still. The opener ”Grief Rolled in Like a Storm” already provides a good insight into that: after the nice intro riff, the guys push the pedal down 75% of the way down to the metal as if climbing a mountain even more before they step off, give the whole song a breather for roughly a minute and then start the climb again. The wave they depict the waves in which grief gets a hold of you, your breath, your every fiber is not only very familiar to me but also one of these musical interpretations of it that seem flawless because of their accuracy. There are moments when you catch a breath, feel as if you have not only your head above water but maybe the upper half of your torso. And then the next wave comes, buries you deep and crushes you completely. The way the guys play with different tempi and even arrive at somewhat of a Stoner Rock pace at the beginning of the track only shows the magical craft and skills of the band in general and the rhythm section in particular.
Nevertheless, one thing must be mentioned as well and that is the way they construct the quieter parts on this record. In every single one of these tracks one encounters these short pauses, these breathers – and that makes for an experience which to me is pretty personal: The tracks seem to transport me back roughly 10 months back, when my family was going through the roughest time one might remember and that we came out on the other side as a unit reassures me that we can get through anything. The same can be said for this record and the aforementioned waves that it resembles – that one can go through all these moments of utter darkness and come out more or less unblemished is a result of the core strengths of Glacier: They crush us, but never leave us. They show us some of our darkest and yet hold our hands to guide us through.
This might be one of the most personal Post-Metal records I have heard in a long time – that itself means something. That I revisit the record every other day also shows something – Glacier have perfected their craft, are a force to be reckoned with and a band to listen to.
You can purchase the record in Europe via Wolves & Vibrancy Records or in the US via Post.Recordings.
