Monday 17 July 2017

Poseidon - Prologue (Album Review)


Release date: July 21st 2017. Label: Ripple Music. Format: CD/DD/Vinyl

Prologue– Tracklisting

1.The Beginning; The End, The Colony
2.Mother Mary; Son of Scorn
3.Chainbreaker
4.Omega

Band Members

Raza Khan – Drums
Matt Norris – Guitar
Matthew Bunkell – Bass/Vocals
Jamie Starke – Guitar

Review

With their debut album Prologue, London band Poseidon combine the epic, hypnotic and immersive nature of revered bands like Neurosis, Mastodon and Yob with a classic line in metal riffage to create a cacophony of flowing sounds for the listener to immerse themselves in too.

Prologue is the first instalment of the Mediums Chronicle, a saga detailing the collapse of civilization and its reconstruction in a post apocalyptic world that will carry on through the bands upcoming works and this saga is unfurled here in stunning fashion.

Prologue kicks off with The Beginning; The End; The Colony and from these initial beginnings, the whole world of Poseidon and their music reveals itself to the world. The one thing that strikes you from the very beginning of this track is how huge the Poseidon sound is and how far they are reaching with their ideas. This is sprawling music that takes on many twists and turns but always has your full attention and this opening combination of mesmerizing music kicks things off well.

That grand opening is followed by the vast Mother Mary; Son Of Scorn and demonstrates the musical skill that Poseidon have as a band. This is music that will hypnotize you with its beauty but also take your head off with its heaviness. The music, despite its epic nature simply flies by in an enjoyable trance such is its heavy charm but as you reach the third track on this album, the perfectly titled Chainbreaker, you are thrust back to reality with some brilliantly heavy riffage and a (relatively) short sharp shock while the song unravels itself.

Chainbreaker has a big desert rock influence flowing through it in terms of both the riffs, the groove and the vocals and continues the album brilliantly with the commencement if the song ending well with some Kylesa style aggression , showing off another side to the band and their music.

Prologue finishes with the monumental Omega, a sixteen minute epic that is simply breathtaking, sublime and the perfect way to end with. God fearing samples litter the songs start as the mournful music erupts and you are lifted away by its power. After such a strong start, Omega is the icing on a particularly mesmerizing and powerful musical cake. This is passionate and hypnotic music done properly and you can't help but be swept up in all its glory, especially towards the end of the songs immense and triumphant conclusion.

Poseidon have made an impressive start with Prologue and one listen to this album will start you on a journey, a journey that you will await the next stage of with impatient glee, until the next instalment though, crank this up loud and let Poseidon take you on that journey all over again.

Words by Gavin Brown
Thanks to Richard at Sheltered Life PR for the promo. Prologue will be released on CD/DD/Vinyl from July 21st 2017 via Ripple Music.
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