Album Review: Old Man Gloom - 'The Ape Of God'

So you may have heard about Old Man Gloom, the band that purposely released an incorrect, edited version of their new album to critics in the hope that they ‘d leak the false album, which some fuckwit did. Then the band went and dropped a giant middle-finger bombshell that the presented wasn’t the actual album (awwwwww shit) and that the new album was actually in fact, two new albums with the proper song versions on them (oh snap). So this review is about the first of these two records, not about the second four-track album, which is just as good, but we’ll get to that another time.

So ‘The Ape Of God’, which we’ll call ‘The Ape Of God I’ for now, is a really good album. All right…now that the impatient Internet trollers who can’t handle more than a few hundred characters have hopefully left, let’s get to why this is so good.

First off, the album never restricts itself to just blast beats, breakdowns, insane solos, progressively stupid time signature changes or any other modern styles – it’s just loud, heavy, dissonant and again, fucking heavy. Secondly, and for those unaware, the group boasts a pretty dope lineup of very talented artists. ISIS’s Aaron Turner (yes the band, not the new terrorist update of Al-Qaida) on vocals, Converge’s Nate Newton on guitar, Cave In’s Caleb Scofield on bass and Santos Montano from…assumedly some other band, on the drums. These dudes all bring in elements from their own bands and it just all gels together so damn well.

Across the album one can hear elements of doom, sludge, hardcore, old school metalcore and post-metal, yet unlike a plethora of other bands, it’s never once confined to simply one of those genres. Maybe that’s why this is such a fucking solid listen.

With moments of harsh guitar feedback and lingering distortion, droning, menacing riffs, loud, harsh growls and screams, rumbling, gut-churning low end, eerie samples, and rather surreal moments of melody and harmony, this album is all wrapped nice and tight. When you consider that most of the songs are six to seven minute long across the board it’s pretty easy to see (or rather hear, cause if you’re seeing that shit you’re either at one of their shows or on acid) the band really like taking their time with their music.

For some people this will be boring or uninteresting or uncool, but these are probably the same people who voted for the Liberals so we won’t count on those people. Moving right along, ‘Eden’s Gate’, ‘Promise’ and the thirteen-minute snowballer that is ‘The Lash’ exemplify all of these musical characteristics really well, but the best moments come in the middle of the album.

The short ‘Fist Of Fury’ hits midway and its ringing intro explodes around you with what fast drumming and ear-slicing riffs and its follow up haunting and ominous building ‘Simia Dei’ is the real bringing-down-the-house moment of ‘The Ape Of God I’. This is how and why heavy music can be so spine-tinglingly awesome, and not just a generic chug and squeal fest.

Another positive, to add to the ever-expanding positives it seems, is that one thing that kills an albums flow is when one song transitions into another and it doesn’t fit, there is a gap or a time delay that they just couldn’t get right in the final stages of putting the album together. Well, that’s not the case here because Old Man Gloom know how to put their shit together, and that creates a more complete and flowing listening experience of blissful heavy music.

To find the best music and most captivating music out there you really have to search and sometimes, it comes from bands that you’ve heard of but never given the attention they so rightfully deserve, as is the case with Old Man Gloom. Stop numbingly browsing through Facebook and Tumblr and go check out this new outing from Old Man Gloom immediately.

1. Eden’s Gates

2. Promise

3. Shoulder Meat

4. Fist Of Fury

5. Simia Dei

6. The Lash

7. Never Enter

8. After You’re Dead