Relentlessness in musical terms can be seen as somewhat of a negative, however if handled correctly relentlessness can pay huge dividends but only if those relentless grooves are combined with swelling dynamics and subtle shifts in volume and tempo. Poland's Seedium, Regular John (guitar), Elvin Mazu (bass) and Paweł Zychowicz (drums), are a band who know how to use relentlessness to their advantage the trio filling their instrumental grooves with slow, low and dense refrains sprinkled with post-rock and psychedelic textures that hypnotise and mesmerise in equal measure and make their debut release "Awake" an exhilarating and very enthralling listen indeed.
Seedium dismiss the need for vocals in their music by saying "The lack of vocals has its purpose, as we think that words could bring unnecessary narration to the music. We want to encourage our listeners to create their own worlds and stories within" and it is hard to disagree with this statement as the three instrumentals that make up "Awake" create the perfect blank canvas for those with fertile imaginations to paint their own visual and lyrical interpretations upon. Recorded live in the studio so as to capture a truly organic feel "Awake" is a massive tome, not just in it's twenty seven plus minute duration but also in its depth and density, yes there are moments when the band sit a little too long on one groove but those moments are cleverly counterbalanced by the bands use of subtle shifting dynamics and the addition of those post-rock and psychedelic textures, mentioned in this reviews intro, that weave they way in and around the bands massive refrains and give proceedings a heavy lysergic dimension.
Atmospheric, serene and at times brutal "Awake" is a release that defies categorisation but then again how can you categorise something that doesn't fit into any of our convenient boxes.
Check it out …..
© 2019 Frazer Jones
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