Amplified is a weekly column focusing on new and emerging artists. Got a band that fits the bill? Email amplified@metalinsider.net.
We’ll contend that it’s easy to write good sludge metal. Play a blues riff slow and low enough, and anyone can make it happen. Making great sludge, however, requires a little something extra, and Arizona’s Collapsian are onto something with their debut release, “At The Left Hand of The Sun.” The band’s core is a swampy one; each of the lengthy tracks here take a while to get going as the band crafts atmosphere with washes of reverb and droning patterns over eerie sampled news broadcasts and political speeches. Collapsian loves their wall of sound, and there’s seldom a manageable amount of stuff going on at any given moment. It’s sometimes chilling, often overwhelming, and expertly crafted to make you uncomfortable. What’s most exciting, however, is the progressive edge that Collapsian brings to their actual songs. Odd time signatures and out of the box drumming take their riffs beyond the simple “blues turned up and tuned down” ethic that sludge was built on, but the sheer elephants-driving-a-steamroller heaviness that the best NOLA sludge bands can conjure isn’t lost on them in the pursuit of something a bit more heady, either.
Stream “At The Left Hand of The Sun” below, and buy it if you like it as much as we did! For just a dollar more, the band is offering hard copies of the record as well.
