Review Summary: From the crevices, Howls of Ebb have crawled and won
Theatricality in metal has always been a precarious and divisive subject, with some people contesting that the genre embodies idea of being as over the top as can be, while others say that it makes it impossible to take seriously. What these opposing viewpoints fail to take into account is that rarely is anything that black and white, especially in a genre as extraordinarily diverse as the one in question. Throughout history and continuing to this day, it’s common for bands to straddle the line between authenticity and parody, making it virtually impossible to dissect their psyche and, in turn, creating a mystique that keeps listeners coming back for more and more.
I’m still not sure what to make of Howls of Ebb in this case; whether or not their act is one of sincerity or a play on metal’s austerity eludes me to this day. They laugh at the idea of moderation, taking every morbid characteristic of the genre to its limit. However, what separates Howls of Ebb from the legions of bands that revel in taking things too far is, to put it simply, the brilliance with which they conduct themselves as songwriters, musicians and entertainers. Listening to
The Marrow Veil, you feel completely disconnected from the outside world, spellbound from the opening bars of “Standing on Bedlam, Burning in Bliss” to the musky ambience that rounds off “Iron Laurels, Woven in Rust”. Lesser bands come and go without leaving the faintest of marks, but Howls of Ebb penetrate your thoughts and permanently engrave their name across the dorm walls of your mind. Soon enough, you’ll find yourself humming each and every melody on this three-track mini-LP as you rock back and forth, gnawing your extremities to the bone.
Compared to the debut,
The Marrow Veil is a surprisingly stark contrast. It doesn’t really build upon the blueprints of its predecessor but instead consults the initial concept sketches and reconstructs itself from the ground up. As such, the hallmarks of Howls of Ebb’s unique sound remain, but everything is now exhibited in a much more deliberate and free-flowing way. The off-kilter, tribal-esque drumming that once formed the crux of each song is now more versatile in its application, filling the role of a suspense mechanism as well as that of a rhythmic engine. The guitar work features the same uncanny, serpentine riffs as
Vigils did, but is much more explorative in terms of texture and atmosphere, to the point where
The Marrow Veil could even be considered ambient and metal in equal measure. The only thing that is unchanged is the vocal performance, and even then, the lyrics and their narrative structure appear to have been crafted in conjunction with the instrumentation, as opposed the being tacked on later.
The songs peak and trough depending on the story’s progression, and the result is an album that feels like a journey, consisting of interlocked chapters filled with palpable tension,
massive dynamic shifts and even a number of jump scares. “Standing on Bedlam, Burning in Bliss” is a near-twenty-minute epic, written from a first person perspective about the preservation and resurrection of one’s “heathen kin”. It details the ritualistic process and the protagonist’s intent with lines such as “And why should we prohibit such Bedlam to begin?” as well as other gems like “Becoming dust of edge, to sanctify dimension End / Manifesting vertigo destinies, pulsing the final win”. Howls of Ebb aren’t here to simply wreak havoc; Howls of Ebb are here to conquer. “Iron Laurels, Woven in Rust” is the realisation of that very sentiment. The track is far less pensive, and the overall tone becomes somewhat triumphant, as if the protagonist is now taunting his defeated subjects in a sadistic display of grandeur.
Of course, lyrical acuity means little if anything without good execution in the compositional department, and this is where Howls of Ebb truly put their contemporaries to shame. Song lengths that extend into the double-digits are usually a call for concern, as listeners are often expected to sit through one unrelated sequence after another with little to no lasting effect. Howls of Ebb not only mange to keep you engaged throughout the album’s entirety, but repeatedly catch you out as you begin to drop your guard and show signs of acclimatisation. In the second half of “Standing on Bedlam, Burning in Bliss”, the guitars, vocals, drums and bass all abate and leave nothing but a faint, whittling hum in their place. The audience is fooled into thinking the storm has passed, but out of nowhere, an earlier riff is reprised and your adrenal glands are promptly triggered. Obviously, this isn’t the only point at which Howls of Ebb employ this tactic, and I could tell you where the others are, but like any good book or movie, I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you.
The Marrow Veil is the best album of 2015 so far, and Howls of Ebb have cemented their place as one of, if not the very best metal group to have debuted this side of 2010. It’s quite difficult to find a metal band in which musicianship, compositional technique and lyrical vision are prioritised equally, and executed on such a level in which no constituent could realistically be placed above another – but these guys have done it. If you consider yourself a fan of things gloomy, suspenseful, theatrical and demented, then
The Marrow Veil is something you just can’t pass up.
