UNSIGNED AND UNHOLY: THE PRETTY GOOD BAND EDITION

I know we’ve spent a good amount of time in this space slagging on bands that sound like other bands. Obviously we don’t expect every new band to reinvent the wheel, and the truth is that sometimes it’s ok to show your influences on your proverbial band sleeve as long as 1) you aren’t completely ripping another band off, 2) you inject it with a little of your own personality, 3) your band doesn’t play (insert here)-core or generic tech-death or middle-of-the-road Sumeriancore. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few unsigned bands to send us their wares recently who aren’t necessarily the most original in the book, but are just original enough and are damn good at what they do.

• Naisian: I know what you’re thinking: “Vince doesn’t usually write about beardo post-metal bands. What are these guys doing here?” There’s actually a lot of things about Naisian I like, but the most immediately striking is drummer Jordan Garlick’s sense of pocket and groove, two qualities rarely heard in this genre. Naisian also aren’t victims of post-metal’s biggest pratfall, the long song that goes absolutely nowhere at a monumentally slow pace. These songs may be long but they have purpose and focus, even when the band isn’t afraid to branch out from their core sound.
• Morito Ergo Sum: With a name that means “I Die Therefore I Am” how could this band play anything other than funeral doom? These Swedes bring big, giant-sized, downtuned My Dying Bride-style funeral marches (except without keyboards) that make you wanna bury your head in a grave. They even ratchet up the BPMs here and there for added contrast and a welcome relief from severe funeral doom-induced Seasonal Affective Disorder. The violin in “I Die Therefore I Am” on their Bandcamp page is so perfectly shrill and out-of-key that it sends shivers down my spine.
• Giant of the Mountain: This Texas threesome is a little rough around the edges, but there’s something about their music I can’t shake. Their riffs are just so brutally catchy, like Null and Void-era Intronaut, and to be honest I kind of enjoy the fact that the production isn’t super polished. MS troller Lord Assenfroth plays guitar and growls in this band, so to be sure to give him some shit in the comments.

-VN