When Adzes dropped their first album, the excellent No One Wants to Talk About It, the hope was that there would be a follow up. Adzes mastermind (and sole member) Forest Bohrer took the best parts of ISIS and Godflesh and made a lumbering beast of a debut album. After several EPs, splits and digital singles, now comes Inver, a sophomore album that builds on its predecessor. It’s a slightly less heavy album with more conventional songs that draws more from alternative rock and has *gasp*, hooks and choruses. However, just because this album sees Bohrer make more traditional sounding music doesn’t mean his music is any less evocative of a decaying world.
The most striking element of this album is how full sounding the production on it is. Most one man metal bands sound like one man metal bands in their home studio. Bohrer though sounds like four different individuals who bring their own ideas. There’s depth and space between the instruments on this album. It allows him to play around with textures on each song. Bohrer still enjoys laying down Aaron Turner style heavy riffs and BC Green bass lines on songs like “Abyss Watchers.” However, he can now lead into that kind of song with a quiet build and occasionally drops back into it. Even on a soaring alternative rock track like “Strange Warmth of Decay,” he still leaves room to build atmosphere even as he shreds. His voice uses LOUD quiet LOUD dynamics on Inver and a whole new dimension to his arsenal of heaviness.
If art imitates the environment where it was created, it’s hard separating the sound of Inver from the Pacific Northwest. Bohrer may have relocated to New Zealand since No One Wants to Talk About It but sonically he’s still there. The sound of Adzes still conjures the forest landscapes and mountains of the state of Washington. The previous album may have conjured bands of that area like Sumac and Baptists. That’s still on here with songs like “Captialeschaton” where Bohrer growls with the best of them. However, Bohrer also draws from Seattle bands like Soundgarden, bands who could alternate sludgy heaviness with soaring hooks. Bohrer’s cleaner voice might not hit Chris Cornell paint peeling high notes (and who can?) but he uses it in effective, emotional ways. When he alternates between the two, like on the closer “Quietus,” it feels like the most natural thing.
Listening to Inver feels like being inside a fog. It can be a massive and enveloping experience. Sometimes the songs just creep into your ears. Then they are gone. Forest Bohrer pushes Adzes into an exciting new direction on this album. It’s a little more of a conventional experience but even that is a risk that pays off here.
— d. morris
Inver will be available October 27 on Philip K. Discs. For more information on Adzes, visit their Twitter and Instagram.
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