Saturday 2 February 2013

THE POD - Assassins In The Mirrored Hall - Review

Assassins in the Mirrored Hall cover art

The Pod is the work of Scott Endres from my current fave Sludge/Post-Metal band – MAKE. The Pod is Scott’s drone/ambient music project. He has already released a few releases under this alias.

I am review The Pod’s new ambient/drone epic album - Assassins In The Mirrored Hall - Anyone expecting the same brutality and heaviness of MAKE are going to be disappointed as this album is for proper ambient drone music metal fans. The album does feature some heavy atmospheric vibes through out its 55-minute running time. And quite a few lengthy epic tracks to boot as well.

Scott has some very cool special guests as well. Mainly his colleagues from MAKE have a cameo appearance on couple of the tracks.

The album will not be for everyone at its purely Ambient/Drone psych based noises and vibes. But if you are into that sort of thing then you will find much to admire here. The album shows what an excellent musician Scott actually is. The amount of creativity on show will astound you at times.

If you do not like the first track – Time’s Desicated Sanctuary – then you will not like the rest of the album. I thought this album was great from the very first listen as it oozes atmosphere, tension and more importantly genuine emotions.

A dense and sprawling album takes time to immerse you with the world that Scott has built up around him. It can be very dark at times but it does have its fair share of euphoric moments as well. Showing you Scott can match the light and dark moments of the album to great effect.

You probably do have to be in a certain mood to listen to this album. It is a challenging and rewarding listen from one of my fave guitarists out there. The Pod is a project Scott should rightly be proud of. As you cannot deny the amount of work and talent, he has put into this great release.

The album is superbly produced and played by everyone involved. The way the music changes from one mood to another with relevant ease is beautifully handled.

My fave track has to be the 14 minute epic – The Analeptic Ritual – a song that showcases what this great album is all about. A truly haunting song that takes you on an unexpected journey. You do not where you are going to end up but you don’t want the journey never to stop.

So if your into Ambient/Drone Music then this album is a must have release. It showcases a wonderful creative side to one of the best guitarists I have heard in recent years.

Superb and Highly Recommended. You can buy the album from The Pod’s BandCamp Page now. Check out some of The Pod’s earlier work as well. Some great releases to check out.

Check Out The Pod from the links below

Facebook
BandCamp