Myopic / Torrid Husk - Crawling Mountain Apogee

By Matt Hinch. I've written about both Myopic and Torrid Husk before and now the two come together on a split entitled Crawling Mountain Apogee. Each band contributes two tracks, the shortest of which clocks in at 8:12. With so much time to work with there is plenty of room to explore.

By Matt Hinch.

Artwork by Brandon Geurts

I've written about both Myopic and Torrid Husk before and now the two come together on a split entitled Crawling Mountain Apogee. Each band contributes two tracks, the shortest of which clocks in at 8:12. With so much time to work with there is plenty of room to explore. And explore they do.

Myopic opens the split with the 10:44 “Unction in Passing”. The track builds slowly with dominant bass leading the way. Post-black metal moments give way to the progressive bass and searing black metal runs. Even then, they surge with a tremulous flair and flow and an openness that's hard to categorize. It's when the bass takes over that the soul of the track is laid bare. There's a beauty in the simplicity that gives it tremendous heart. From there the track meanders hither and yon, returning to its blackened core and integrating their exploration as it circles around between aggression and progression.

Moving into “Remembrance” Myopic takes a darker, more menacing turn bringing in doom elements. Holding on to the prog and post touches the storm intensifies as trembling guitars break free of earthly tethers to dance among the stars. Eventually the darkness pulls the track back into the depths and set it upon a chase before concluding in an amalgam of the track's elements.

Torrid Husk follow up with “All Ballasted the Elk”. Field recordings give way to their melodic black metal full of reluctant warmth and disgusted raspy growls. It morphs into a zone with some bounce to the percussion. Even the melodies take on a different, more uplifted feel. That doesn't last as a brief scorched earth moment leads to quiet introspection like a fog clearing to reveal true feelings; shedding an artificial protective exterior. Even more desperate vocals call for a blasting, swirling, burrowing return. Fight and flight at once, closing out with harsh but relieving melody to ease the scars.

“So howled out to the world to give him a name” goes for the throat in a most unsettling way. Deathly growls and a paranoid aura are enough to make the skin crawl under a relentless battering of percussion and fast yet creepy rhythms and melody. Delicate guitar breathes air into the song's midsection only to be destroyed by black metal's annihilating force. Progressive elements and soaring melodies mingle with forceful percussion and slavering vocals coalescing into a wave of feedback and a closing return to the field recordings.

Both bands have upped their game on this excellent split. Fusing powerful and velocious black metal with dynamics and progressive explorations, Myopic and Torrid Husk push their names into new regions of recognizability. Coupled with the spectacular production that comes out of the Grimoire Records camp, it's apparent that there is a wealth of talent and vision comprising these two bands. Crawling Mountain Apogee is everything the name implies and more. Unsettling, awe-inspiring, far reaching, muscular, challenging and captivating.

Myopic - Beyond the Mirror's Edge

Written by Matt Hinch.


The press release for Beyond the Mirror's Edge by Myopic presents the 3-piece as progressive black metal. I myself would tend to lean more towards the progressive than black after hearing this 4-song EP. The foundations of black metal are there, but Myopic don't sit still long enough to entrench themselves in the mud and blood of one genre.

The second track however, "Iron Towers" holds truest to black metal standards with a hack 'n' slash approach and plenty of tremulous guitar work. But even it lays back later in the track. Although, even it works its way into an almost jaunty place with some Les Claypool-inspired bass and post-metal touches to go along with the dark atmosphere. As black as Myopic, and this track in particular may be, its not an oppressive black. It remains quite open, making the transition into other genres not as out of place as they could be.

The title track is relatively sludgy but with plenty of drama provided by the progressive moments. While the overall tone isn't necessarily heavy, it has a nice flow. It moves back and forth between the edgy sections and the more melodic, like an artist in the throes of creativity, working furiously one moment then stepping back to observe and contemplate.

Myopic's diversity is on full display during "Backstitch", an entirely instrumental track. Prog mixes with USBM and doom. Soaring guitars nestle close to post-hardcore. The track twists and turns and the listener finds themselves in many different places as the track goes along. There's swing, a paranoid feel, hard notes, upbeat ones, and screaming ones. It's definitely the sort of track that lets the winds of fate determine its course.

Final track "Lord of Damnation" might be the most eclectic of them all. Imagine a mash-up of Primus and the Toadies with rock and roll swagger and pseudo-blackened screaming. It's spastic, light-hearted yet menacing, and often off-kilter.

Myopic come across as a band with plenty of talent who definitely pay attention to the intricacy of their arrangements. It all sounds good and crisp without a cut-and-paste feel. Your ultimate impression therefore depends on whether you regard their unorthodox black metal menagerie as a band refusing to confine themselves to genre restrictions, or as a band unsure of its identity. Everything they do they do well, and it can be crazy catchy. Trust me. I guess it all depends on how open your mind is.

Bet you never thought you'd hear "black metal" and "Toadies" in the same review, did you?

[Go to the post to view the Bandcamp player]