Review Summary: An impressive Stoner metal sound that occasionally dwells into Progressive rock territory.
Like most psychedelic albums,
Enter The Void, contains a collection of songs that focus on inducing a vivid listening experience. Manipulating sounds and embracing technical effects to replicate the experiences of being under the spell of mind-altering drugs. In a way, Enter The Void can be considered a conceptual album because its content is one that describes, through language of music, what it's like to open the doors of perception. Leaving us to wander through cosmic dimensions in this metaphysical voyage Musically speaking, Methadone Skies perform a very elaborate style of Stoner metal. Each song is comprised of aggressive and impactive riffs that are drenched in psychedelic dissonance, as well as combined with bombastically agile drumming. Methadone Skies really makes use of slow tempos, heavy rhythms, and ominous ambient passages to architect a truly impressive performance.
The album opens with
"Enter The Void", which immediately starts off our journey with a thrilling overture. The music is very suspenseful, as it constantly takes us into different instrumental movements. The guitar work often shifts from ambient loops to droning riffs, which as the lead instrument, directs the sound from atmospheric discord to vigorous and eruptive passages of intensity. The music of Enter The Void is entirely instrumental, and it was a wise choice because we really get to see the effective musicianship of the band.
"Long Day's Journey Into Night" is certainly one of the main highlights because it contains some of the best guitar arrangements in the whole album. After progressing beyond a fuzzed out beginning, we arrive into an impassioned section of fierce soloing and psychedelic garnishes erupting in the background. Needless to say, it's a very surreal performance and one that is very mystical in its own unique way because the instrumentation is executed with such a precise intention to coat the listener in a tapestry of disorienting sounds. As I said before, this album is all about taking the listener away from their conscious surroundings and into a cosmic realm beyond time and space.
The final track,
"Exit The Void", is one that truly illustrates the mesmerizing style of the album. Though the music tends to employ a very heavy and sonically distorted sound, it intriguingly enough manages to allude a trancing effect. Starting off with an astral cloud of ambience,
"Exit The Void" steadily blossoms into form, as each instrument begins to erupt out of silence so as to guide us through our journey's destination. It's a really hypnotic environment because it exudes the illusion that we're actually going somewhere. We progress with the music as it evolves in structure, becoming more abstract and louder with each passing second.
"Exit The Void" is a very fitting ending to the album because it's a reprise of everything we have experienced throughout the album. Our final voyage through extended guitar solos obscured with harmonic contortion, ambient soundscapes, and emphatic drum rhythms. The content of Methadone Skies is one that really astounds with its offerings, but because it has nothing unique to present to its niche audience, it lacks to really make a name for itself. There are certainly a variety of stunning moments of instrumentation deployed in the album, but they all tend to feel more like reflections of other artists in the Stoner metal genre than something that can truly be called genuine. Nevertheless, the talent that Methadone Skies possesses can't be denied. Like most bands in the beginning stages of their career, it's more than evident that Methadone Skies is still trying to refine their sound. And if they continue along a path that exposes them to new influences and styles, as well as expand their musical aspirations, I'm certain that the release of their sophomore album may be something for Stoner metal enthusiasts to mark on their calendar. Enter The Void indeed demonstrates an ambitious and spectacular musical direction, and one that only makes us curious to see where this band might go next.
