Review Summary: Timer skillfully blend elements of post-metal, prog, psychedelic, and a whole host of others to create an engaging (if not slightly derivative) album.
As a general rule, post-metal bands have an annoying tendency to rip off each other. It's not a phenomenon exclusive to the genre, but it seems to be more common than it is in other forms of music, with a good portion of post-metalers sounding like desperate mimics of better bands than themselves. Relatively obscure Belgian act Timer is by no means an exception to this rule. But, as can also be the case, they rip off Isis and their peers in an enjoyable fashion, and also manage to incorporate a mixture of other, more unconventional influences into their epic post-metal to create an album that can easily be enjoyed by anyone into this style of music.
Yahala, the album's first true song, is probably the strongest track on here. It also happens to sound almost exactly like Isis at times, in everything from the vocals to the guitar tone, but this does not detract from the song in any way, shape, or form. The vocalist is at his most interesting here, deftly transitioning between appropriately rough-sounding cleans and raspy Aaron Turner-ish growls throughout the duration of the track. The guitars and the bass work extremely well together here, with the guitars playing a fuzzy post-rock riff while the bass plays a catchy little line that, unlike in so many other records, does way more than just to accentuate the guitars.
Snowhaze, while being a tad tedious at points, is one of the album's more experimental tracks, with the band's psychedelic and stoner influences being at their most prominent here.
One Red Night, with its high-end, ambient-laced guitar riffs, is reminiscent of Rosetta, while the opening post-rocky riff of
The Town The Fog brings to mind bands such as Red Sparowes. This track is notable for its variety, also incorporating some more technical, proggy riffs and a few genuinely hummable moments to boot. The other four tracks thrown between the four 9-minute plus centerpieces are short (less than a minute) ambient pieces that serve as effective, if not fleeting, respites from the at-times crushing heaviness of the true songs.
By the time the album reaches its end, the listener is left with conflicting feeling of satisfaction and disappointment. This is an undoubtedly well-done album by a band that knows what it’s doing, but that’s about as far as it goes. Timer incorporates a massive diversity of influences without always bothering to make them into something of their own. In other words, when they sound like Isis, they sound
just like Isis and not like a band influenced by Isis, and so on. If they ever really want to excel Timer must learn how to craft their influences into something new and original. In the meantime, the music-loving community is left with a genuinely enjoyable post-metal record to listen to while they wait for Timer to release something that lives up to their obvious potential.
Album Highlights
Yahala
The Town The Fog
