Beneath a Steel Sky
Cleave


3.5
great

Review

by artificialbox STAFF
February 7th, 2025 | 13 replies


Release Date: 01/24/2025 | Tracklist

Review Summary: dreary post-metal for a disconnected world.

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel”

…the first sentence of William Gibson’s 1984 classic cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer. Also the title of the first song on this record. Combined with the fact that the band itself is named after a 1994 cyberpunk point-and-click PC game, and the album cover features the dark and tightly packed corridor of a dense urban sprawl, it’s pretty easy to pick up what the band is putting down here, at least aesthetically. Perhaps apart from the odd synth key that makes it through the dark-glass walls of guitar and bass, there is nothing overtly sci-fi about Beneath a Steel Sky’s music, but the band’s debut record does excel in conveying a sense of isolated sorrow that is implicit in a world of hypertech individualism (perhaps one we are already familiar with). It’s in this way that Beneath a Steel Sky manages to create such dreary post-rock metal landscapes that feel so close to the heart. Yet despite all of its crystal-clear guitar tones and dreamy tempos, Cleave isn’t necessarily an easy listen. This is pure doom. Carnations for a funeral procession. Beneath a Steel Sky’s rhythm section sees to it that we hold a sullen march through these seven songs like a storm cloud on a still day, counting the seconds between lightning flash and the bellowing roar that follows, and at times it can feel exhausting. Not because the riffs are boring — no, no. The songs build on repetition as doom should and are hypnotic enough to bask in if you have the patience — but because the atmosphere is so bleak. Saccharine cleans offer a splash of light to soften the blow, but they really just end up making things more depressing.

Cleave is a slow burn, and the consistent drudgery might bear too much tedium for some. I don’t exactly blame them. These songs do often take the same worn traverse from somber arpeggio front-half to monolithic howling back-half, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t always a gorgeous view at the summit. The bargaining cries and colossal riffs have more in common with waves on jutting sea cliffs than sprawling metropolises, but the sense of empty longing is the same. I think some more obvious interjections from the keys could have shaken things up and carried this album to another level, but their textural impact is invaluable nonetheless (look no further than “The infinite silence…”). Some more back-and-forth vocal parts like on “Vanguard” and “Cyclical dunt” would have bolstered the dynamics as well, but I digress. Beneath a Steel Sky has succeeded in creating an album that sucks the colour out of everything until all that’s left is the black and white pallor of brutalism. If you enjoy staring at your reflection through sidewalk puddles and considering every wrong turn you have ever taken in life, then this album is for you. And for the happily adjusted among us, Cleave is at least pretty enough for a listen or two.



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user ratings (21)
3.4
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
artificialbox
Staff Reviewer
February 7th 2025


3362 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

welcome back to another episode of turning sound offs into reviews



listen:

https://beneathasteelsky1.bandcamp.com/album/cleave

mkmusic1995
Contributing Reviewer
February 7th 2025


2164 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Very nice write up, my friend! Quite enjoyed the couple listens I had with this record.

artificialbox
Staff Reviewer
February 7th 2025


3362 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Thanks brother! Album definitely deserves some more love, although I find it can be too dreary for its own good at times. The production is just mouthwateringly gorgeous.

Hawks
Contributing Reviewer
February 7th 2025


99570 Comments


Gotta hear this. Great review brother!

artificialbox
Staff Reviewer
February 7th 2025


3362 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

thanks boss, definitely interested to see what you think!

NightOnDrunkMountain
Staff Reviewer
February 7th 2025


1003 Comments


Convinced to listen to this!

henryChinaski
February 8th 2025


5120 Comments


loving that band name and artwork, will check this out!

Ectier
February 8th 2025


3690 Comments


Ooo keen to look at this

Chippe
February 8th 2025


454 Comments


Thanks for reviewing this. A relaxing listen with great atmosphere and love the production as well

DarkNoctus
February 8th 2025


12471 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

this is rather good, thanks for the review

RustCohle
February 9th 2025


433 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This is some cool album, nice review too.

bananatossing
February 10th 2025


2500 Comments


Thanks for the rec. Maybe a bit too mellow for my post-metal taste, but I liked it enough.

Asura14
February 13th 2025


622 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

great review!

first impressions are good, specially Vanguard and Everyone you've ever known, but will need to return to this with a bit more focus, it's the type of album that deserves it for sure



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