Review Summary: A new Swedish Post Metal band that revives the post metal scene. Members are Chris Campbell, Martin Nilsson, Erik Silverberg, Anders Lundgren, and Pontus Lundgren.
Schematic for Gravity is a rising band hailing from Malmo, Sweden. They have just released their three track eponymous demo. Having previously heard Cloud Zone, another band with vocalist Erik Silverberg and Pontus Landgren, I decided to give it a listen.
And wow! This three track EP feels as though it revives 2004’s Cult of Luna “Salvation” era of post-metal. Right off the bat, the Schematics for Gravity logo and bleak cover art are very reminiscent of the “Salvation” cover, while yet adding the cool effect of power lines in the background. But I’m not going to write an entire review on comparing the cover art to another. Let’s hear the music shall we?
Right off the bat, “The Art of Taming Waves” begins with one of my favorite guitar sounds. A slight progression and it soon becomes a nice trio of guitars, drums, and synth. Then about two minutes into it, vocals come in. Erik’s vocals have an enjoyably raw and under produced sound to them and I think that suits the band very well. Needless to say, The Art of Taming Waves is my favorite.
Contrary to the opener, “Antithesis to Bliss” opens with a raw aggression to it. It has a slight technicality to it but not so much that it sounds dissonant. About a minute into it is a soothing interlude which prepares us for the rest of the song, which is a combined raw aggression layered on top of melody.
With a title like the closing track, “An Entire Ocean under Scarred Skin”, you can almost predict it will be a melodramatic closing piece. Unlike the previous two tracks, we really seem to have a chance to take a breath between each lyrical passage and there are enough interludes to match up to the darker and angrier sections. The final two minutes are a haunting and lingering ambience that makes for a perfect conclusion.
Lyrically, there are some very deep themes of afterlife, the world as a whole, and loneliness. Or at least that’s what I can make of the lyrics, for all I know they may be very personal and deal with some of the band members’ own experiences. Whatever the meaning, they are very poetic and convey human emotions every so beautifully. An example would be the final lines of “An Entire Ocean”, “I can’t control my life, I can’t control my life” which haunt me with the feelings of loneliness and grief.
Overall I give this a 4.5/5 and I look forward to hearing more from this band in the future
