Review Summary: An exciting debut full-length that brings with it a whirlwind of expectations, most of which are met, and a few that aren’t.
UK post-metal band The Mire is clearly not a band that feels the pressure to mass produce music on a frequent basis, electing to take their time to carefully construct their art. Their first full-length album
Glass Cathedrals is a long time coming, but entirely reasonable given that the band’s lineup was still being shuffled around up until 2011 paired with the fact that the members juggle jobs on the side too. Until now, the band had managed on average two songs (not counting interludes) every two years. Not only is that frustrating from the perspective of fans, but it also undoubtedly raised questions as to whether The Mire was capable of scaling their sound up to a full-length whilst keeping their consistency in check. We now have our answer.
First, some background. The band plays a bleak, sludgy post-metal sound that blends both heaviness and melody, effectively creating a smoother, more refined sound than their obvious influences like Isis and Cult of Luna. Their 2010 EP
Volume II, a compilation of every song they had produced up to that point, was a shining highlight amidst a genre that had grown quite predictable over the years. Songs like “Shadows” and “The Rift” showcased a culmination of quite a few elements, with a foundation based in sludgy riffs but combined with chiming guitars and beautiful harmonies of harsh and soft vocals, thanks mainly to their stellar vocalist Robin Urbino. Their 2012 split with Chronos softened things up a bit with a more progressive feel inherent within their half of the split. What was most impressive was how comfortable the band sounded in the many sides of their sound, and how well everything blended together.
Where the focus before seemed to be culminating everything together into one neat package,
Glass Cathedrals tends to focus more on specific aspects of the band’s sound. The instrumentation is also a bit heavier, often kicking songs off with fast-paced riffs that slice through like machetes. “False Idol”, the first true song of the album, races out of the gates brimming with low-tuned sludge and heavy chugging riffs. The harsh vocals effectively accomplish their task and compliment the sound with a raw and aggressive texture. However, the softer vocals feel as if they are left in the background. They don’t surface much and when they do, they seem to be more of a placeholder as opposed to something adding value like before. On the flipside, tracks like “Triple Gemini” focus more on the softer vocals. The instrumentation here is again powerful and well-paced, but the harsh vocals seem to be what gets forced in without much thought. And that really is the sense of the entire album, most songs work well but the little elements that are neglected take away slightly from the experience and the melodic sound they are trying to go for.
The album does suffer from a bit of monotony as well. As an example, go play the first ten seconds of “False idol”. When you’ve done that, go play the first ten seconds of “Dark Sun”. It’s the same idea but at a faster tempo. Okay, now go play the first ten seconds of closer “Stone Devils”. It’s a slower version of the same thing right? This is where you begin to get the feeling that The Mire might have a smaller bag of tricks than we originally thought; an ominous sign. The title track is one of a select few moments on the album where the band writes something a little more experimental. Otherwise, besides a couple interludes, the album pummels you non-stop, with many songs that do shine but unfortunately a few that seem more like crude blueprints rather than fresh ideas. The title track is a great accomplishment though, a soft and sorrowful ballad with touching vocals that lifts itself into a soaring and emotional finish. I just wish that it didn't get sandwiched between two heavier tracks, which makes it feel more like a brief respite rather than the gem it’s supposed to be.
Don’t think for a second though that
Glass Cathedrals is a bad album; it’s worth a listen for any post-metal fan. Almost all the songs funnel immense energy throughout the album, but just lack that sense of culmination and melody that worked so well on their earlier EP and split. There are definitely strong moments here like the mid-section of “Pale Heart” where the band transitions nicely between soft sections and heavier ones with the adept precision you’d come to expect from them. But the monotony does creep in after a while, and makes you wonder whether The Mire might be out of ideas, and that’s really the only thing that keeps this album from becoming something more. This would be very disappointing for a band so early in their career. It took a little over three years to craft this debut full-length album, but the band seems to be caught with its wheel’s spinning rather than building intelligently off of what they've already achieved. Let’s hope that’s not the case.
