Post-apocalyptic Psych-metal
An epic cinematic quality combined with a mix of doom laden growled vocals and memorable riffs; MAKE's doomy-psych metal offering is huge, and it's hard to believe there's just a trio of players behind a sound which flattens you one minute and lifts you up the next. It's a powerful, heady mix and impresses right from the album opener, Ancient Tongues, with layers of background fuzz under deep rumbling bass and soaring riffs.
Trephine is a concept album with post-apocalyptic themes exploring the fragile state of the human condition, and the band has forged an atmosphere that succeeds in bringing this to life. You can hear it on tracks like Valhalla where scuzzy guitar evokes the endless American landscape of some as yet unmade Western, or After The Dust Settles which is reminiscent of Neil Young's work on the soundtrack for existential Western Dead Man.
This is certainly a moody record, tinged with pain and nostalgic melancholy, but there are also moments of sweetness, take Returning To The Ruins Of My Birthplace which stalks you with dark, loose stringed guitar but also pulls you in with its dreamy open atmospherics. The deeper you dig the more there is to discover, ...And Time Came Undone is already on its way to be coming a favourite after just one listen, opening with the clear but slightly warped sound of gently bending strings, before a blast of dark, aggressive vocal and seriously chunky chugs breaks through, very nice.
As with all really great records Trephine sucks you in from track one but it also rewards repeated listens, with the mood lingering long afterward and dragging you back again and again for another spin. Memorable and affecting; recommended.