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Bison B.C.

Quiet Earth

Written by: PP on 29/10/2008 01:48:39

The first thing to notice about recent Metal Blade signees Bison B.C. and their debut full length "Quiet Earth" is how similar they are in sound and attitude to High On Fire. Here I'm talking about droning guitars and a vocalist who possesses a coarse, muscular roar which depicts the very meaning of masculinity pretty darn well. The second thing to note is how Bison B.C. isn't just a band riding on the coattails of High On Fire's underground success, as they have significantly more groove and melody in their music, effectively making "Quiet Earth" a much more easily digestible listen.

There's also much less droning around going on here to my relief. Merely one song is over eight minutes long, with the rest measure between ~4 and ~6 minutes, allowing the tracks to sink into the listener in a much quicker succession. It helps, of course, that the band has injected just the acceptable amount of pop ideology into their music to still stay metal-as-fuck, meaning that every now and then a vocal part or a chord progression sticks to your mind like plague in Italy back in the dark ages. The final dispersing screams repeating "THESE ARE MY DRESS CLOTHES... THESE ARE MY DRESS CLOTHES" on the track carrying the same name are nothing short of breathtaking, acting as a brilliant climax to a song that's been slowly building up to that momentous outburst of vocal vigour.

A song like "Primal Emptiness Of Outer Space", on the other hand, relies on audibly raw, pure guitars grinding their way slowly towards a nice chord-sequence, complementing the brute vocals nicely. Different rhythms and paces are used in generously in each song, often ranging from the painstakingly slow to the murderously fast in short succession, allowing for a frantic expression that's definitely the strength of this band and something that'll surely carry them into a cult classic in due time.

Most importantly, Bison B.C. might just be one of the most original bands on the Metal Blade roster (why is it always the Canadian bands that are the most original on that side of the pond?). Hearing any of the songs from "Quiet Earth" by random will immediately lead the listener to place them as a Bison B.C. song despite the obvious High On Fire parallels. For this reason alone, the band's worth checking out. That is, unless Mastodon-esque drone-metal isn't something you like picking off the menu for dinner.

Download: These Are My Dress Clothes
For the fans of: High On Fire, Mastodon
Listen: Myspace

Release date 30.09.2008
Metal Blade