In less than a month the sludge post metal scene has already churned out a series of impressive albums in the new year: one of these is the second full length by US band Aequorea, released almost eight years after their previous long-distance work entitled Tellurian. In spite of their rough lumberjack appearance, the quartet demonstrates a surprising melodic sensitivity, which is the secret, not too hidden, to make even the most difficult sound expression compelling. These skills are exhibited with remarkable continuity during the four long tracks contained in Dim, an album in which Aequorea don’t distort the coordinates of the genre, but bend them to a compositional strength that avoids the obvious alternation between rarefactions and explosions, enslaving it instead to an idea of song form rather complete, although multifaceted and diluted as the genre requires. The work unfolds in a slow but constant crescendo, without getting lost in frills or particular formalisms: the band from Nevada City pursues the goal of striking and convincing the listener succeeding in the intent as best as possible, with a handful of tracks with a sometimes irresistible pull, among which stands out for my personal taste the magnificent Mara of the Hollow Shadow, without the others being less intense. Another work for tenacious researchers of hidden musical nuggets.
2022 – Transylvanian Recordings
Mournful Sounds 
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