Music: Traditional Doom/Stoner Rock/Sludge
Country: USA
Website: www.middian.org
Cool Songs: The Blood of Icons, Age Eternal
Eye Eternal is MIDDIANs debut album for Metal Blade Records. Featuring Mike Scheidt, formerly of YOB, MIDDIAN plays sludgy, cosmic stoner rock of epic proportions. Songs like the albums opener Dreamless Eye and The Celebrant show the band moving at a frantic, grinding pace that is complimented with screaming, grindcore style vocals. In the case of Dreamless Eye, MIDDIAN lets their guitars feedback to transition into extra thick, sludge rhythms that ring out majestically like a signal that an ancient god has descended from the heavens.
Other than the tracks mentioned above, the rest of the album moves at a snails pace, leaving behind audio traces like a snail does its slime. Some of the riffs are monstrous, hitting the air waves in true Godzilla fashion. The bridging riff on The Blood of Icons illustrates these gigantic riffs. One of the vocalists (there are two vocalists) lets forth a massive death growl, further establishing this track as a heavyweight listen. Although slower than The Celebrant, the pace on The Blood of Icons is still a few beats faster than the droning of the albums closer Sink to the Center.
There is a lot to like about Eye Eternal. Trippy vocals mixed with reverberating guitars perfectly convey the cosmic pictures affixed to the background in the albums lyric booklet. Also, the riffs are catchy and exceptionally heavy. The reason this album received a mediocre 6/10 rating, though, is due to the overly long tracks. Bands like OPETH can successfully create ten-minute plus tracks because their music has enough variation and flow to keep those track interesting. MIDDIAN does not vary its music enough, a droning rhythm might go on for ten minutes before changing, then the change will be the only change before resorting back to the original rhythm. I listened to half or three/fourths of each track before skipping to the next track.
If MIDDIAN were to trim a few minutes or add another riff, this album would have been more accessable. However, fans of SLEEPs epic doom album Dopesmoker, NEUROSIS, and ISIS may find one of the better releases of the year in Eye Eternal.
note: 6/10
Tracklist
1. Dreamless Eye
2. the Blood of Icons
3. Age Eternal
4. The Celebrant
5. Sink to the Center
Total playing time 57:08
Line-up
Mike Scheidt – guitar and vocals
Will Lindsay – bass and vocals
Scott Headrick – drums
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