Ah, Vader…
Many moons ago when I was yet a fledgling in the ways of metal I thought of you as nothing more than mediocre. But it is often when one starts their exploration of a particular genre of music that a number of bands contributions go misunderstood or unappreciated by the new listener. This was definitely the case for me with Vader.
How things change. A few days ago a good friend of mine recommended that I try out the Polish death metal outfits latest offering “Welcome To The Morbid Reich” and was pleasantly surprised with what I heard. Continue reading
After Sewn to the Sky, I could only wonder what madness I could expect on Forgotten Foundation. The experimentalism that was seen so early on in Bill Callahan’s career is interesting but only to an extent and by “an extent”, I really just mean Sewn to the Sky. The nature of it made sense in strange ways, but it was so grimy and harsh that it was perhaps an unintentionally original way to start a career, however, on Forgotten Foundation, it feels almost like repetition without any real inspiration. This is the worst point in Smog’s fifteen-year run. 
Sewn to the Sky is not an album that kicked off Smog into what Smog was. It was in fact, far from Smog in general, which is what makes Sewn to the Sky particularly interesting. Smog is usually labeled as somewhat of a mellow rock artist and in his debut release, he acts as a pioneer of the tape-recorded grimy lo-fi movement. This album is abrasive, bare-bones and frequently harsh to the ears, almost the opposite of Callahan’s general flow, and at the same time serves as something of a note for his future and growth. I’m going to be dead honest with you, Sewn to the Sky is not very good, but interesting on so many levels. 
