I’ll be honest with you here: the main reason why I clicked play on this promo is because both of these bands are from France and play doom metal. In the past few years, I have been exposed to the amazing stoner, doom, and psychedelic scenes of France and I can’t get enough of them. I’ve written about them extensively on the blog and these bands have slowly become some of my favorite bands in the genres, from all over the globe. I wasn’t exactly surprised then when I was richly rewarded for checking out ÂGE ⱡ TOTAL. This project is a collaboration between two other bands, with which I was unaware prior to this: Endless Floods and Greyfell. Together, they wield a type of drone tinged doom that is very hard to resist, expertly diving in and out of feedback, bottomless riffs, and an overall epic feeling that is, regardless of its weight, channeled with extreme agility and intelligence. I’m beyond proud to premiere the third track from the album, “Metal” right here. Head on down below to check it out!
My god, where to start? Perhaps we should take a moment to listen to all of the different effects, sounds, and beautiful synths that play “in the back” of the main guitar riff. Their action, taken together with the guitar’s overwhelming tone, reminds me of Ancestors and if you know anything about my relationship with that band, you’ll know that is a high honor indeed. When you bring in the vocals, so emotive and evocative, the package is complete; “Metal” becomes a super convincing, effective, and emotional tune, dragging you down into its stolid introspection and fury.
And that’s before the track completely unravels at its center, the drums leading the charge in the track’s dissolution into those drone influences I mentioned above. Listen to the feedback build as the synths build up, die, and then build up again. Feel the tension being crafted, not with the further slowing down of the main riff, but with the distillation of the violence at the center of the track into what feels cosmic, grand, majestic, noise coalescing into psychedelic, Bosch-like mental images.
Deep breath. This track is a whopper, catching you off guard and pummeling you until you’re good and ready for the album’s conclusion (and what a conclusion it is, with hints of Sunn O))) to grace its sixteen minutes and change of epic doom). If this doesn’t get you hyped, then nothing will. Make sure to head on over to the band’s Bandcamp page above to pre-order the self titled album before it drops on February 5th.