White Arms of Athena Awake from a “Heavy Sleep” with a Completely Different Sound

Last we checked in with Texas metal outfit White Arms of Athena — in 2011, around the release of their Prosthetic Records debut Astrodrama — the five piece was playing spaced out prog metal very much in the vein of Between the Buried and Me.

So imagine my surprise when I heard “Heavy Sleep,” their first new song in three years. Holy crap, this band has changed a lot! Given, they were super young when Astrodrama was recorded (look at this promo photo!), so it stands to reason that they’d mature and evolve a bit. But “Heavy Sleep” is a complete change of direction: gone are all the tech-prog passages, freakouts and general BTBAM worship and in their place are skronky, Gorgutsian death riffs, post-hardcore inspired guitar leads, sung-screamed vocals and a general sense of restraint. The track reminds me a lot of Thrice, and not just because they’re another band that did a complete 180 in sound at one point in their career; “Heavy Sleep” could easily be the heaviest track on Vheissu. The production is totally on point, fittingly provided by Converge’s Kurt Ballou.

In any case, I really, really dig this track. Check it below and let us know what you think. The self-titled White Arms of Athena comes out on December 2nd.