Forgive Us Our Trespasses

Well I've heard "Forgive Us Our Trespasses" several times so I should know by now if it is my new best friend. Unfortunately it isn't and as far as I can see it won't be. The band has a clear vision of the world we've made for ourselves and our fellow animal, plant and mineral travellers and what's likely to happen as a result of our activities (which isn't very good) and the music's presentation is polished but I find it very flat and lacking in energy and passion.

Now I appreciate that the vocalist of A Storm of Light, Josh Graham, has had a long and notable career in music and in this kind of heavy powerhouse post-rock / doom-sludge metal in particular, having cut his teeth with Neurosis, and I have a feeling that this longevity is part of the reason I don't like the recording much. He has an excellent voice, clear and soaring, but his tones are flat and lacking in emotion as if he's always sung the same way since whenever and needs time out! For me the singing is too smooth and remote for the music and its themes, and anger and a rough edge are needed. I don't mean he should shout and scream, I just think if you're trying to convince listeners of the worth of your music and the ideas and concepts presented - it's not as if among other things ASOL cover, the notion that we are killing off our planet's ecosystems and in the process condemning ourselves to extinction is a new concept to most people - you need to sound convinced yourself and be able to inject feeling into your singing, not all the time of course but during passages in the music that you feel strongly about. The plodding slow nature of the music doesn't help much either - the vocalist can only sing as fast as the music goes and no faster - with everything being very long and drawn out, and sounding drained of force and aggression even though the band plays with a lot of power.

A few tracks are not too bad but like most of the album, apart from the intro and two short related interludes, they are slow or medium-slow and come across as over-earnest. "The Light in their Eyes" is an all-instrumental piece with some delicate ambient background touches and mournful violin melodies that contrast with martial drumming and a brave lone guitar. The track could have been edited for length as parts are very repetitive. For some reason "Midnight" sticks in the mind more than most other songs here, perhaps because there are some strong riffs featured and the quieter parts of the song can be quite intense, but again the muscle behind the music is let down by the unvarying slow pace and the bland vocals. "Omega" has some very celestial passages of organ music and instrumental sections that nearly have a psychedelic feel but it's lacking in dynamism that would build up the song towards a strong climax. The musicians keep throwing in new riffs and melodies into the song almost up to the end as if they themselves can sense that the necessary power is not there so they have to compensate to maintain the listener's attention.

The short "Law of Nature" tracks - these are tracks 1,6 and 9 - have some good banjo, violin or piano melodies with soft ambient backing. These pieces have spoken word lyrics about the nature of,well, the "laws" of Nature and Time delivered by Lydia Lunch, who I believe used to be Somebody in late 1970s underground punk and radical feminist politics, in a distorted voice that does sound a bit cartoony after a while.

Ultimately this album is proof that great musicianship, a polished production and good ideas don't count for much if an inner fire isn't present in the music. The way ASOL plays, everything sounds chained up within a slow rhythm and slow melodies as though even a small bit of improvised guitar soloing is going to make the whole thing crash. It all just sounds too controlled and tired which for me is strange when I see the often apocalyptic lyrics and think, hmm, the band could really take off on some crazed instrumental journeys here and there that would liven up the album. When finally "Forgive Us ..." ends, I just feel relieved that ASOL have been able to get all this music out of their systems and maybe on the next full-length they might find the inspiration and energy they need.