Style: Atmospheric black metal, black metal, post rock
Primary Emotions/Themes: The folly of man, nature overtaking the earth again
Thoughts: It's been way too long since I opened this box set. I listened to White Tomb months ago then this thing sat on my shelf collecting dust. That ends today. Today Mammal is unleashed upon my turntable and speakers.
Neptune is Dead is a massive opening track. Nearly 20 minutes in length, the song aims to be the highlight of the album and requires much from the listener for the first exposure to the album. The song goes through nearly every aspect of Altar of Plagues sound.
It opens with a blast beat driven section driven by swirling riffs. This is a smart move on the bands part, it opens the album on a strong point. The band is at their best when they have post rock styled riffs played over aggressive blast beats. This is what made Earth as a Tomb such a good opener on White Tomb, and it's what makes Neptune is Dead a great opener here.
The band transitions out of this section rather quickly and goes to a slower pace where the a more typical post rock build up is seen. The band starts off quiet and adds layer after layer until the song becomes a massive behemoth that is impossible to ignore. The build itself is quite well done, but lacks that extra little push at the end that would make it truly epic.
Flipping the record over we get to my favorite track off the entire album: Feather and Bone. This track embraces the black metal side of their sound and never lets off the speed. When the band is moving at break neck speeds they have one of the best atmospheres in the entire genre, I just wish that they would do it more often. This is the one moment in all of Mammal where they fulfill their entire potential.
The rest of the album is a bit lack luster compared to the first two tracks, the songs are slower and don't build to nearly as strong of a conclusion as the first two do. I think as I revisit the album in the future I'm going to be listening to the first LP way more than the second. It's a good album, but again the band doesn't focus on what their strengths are - at least for me. I wish just once they would make a full on, balls to the wall album where the listener is completely decimated. Sadly, that will never happen.
Written November 13th 2023
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