Review of Mammal by Altar of Plagues

Okay, so the only thing I know about this band is that they are Irish. I’ve not heard anything by them before so we’ll have to see whether that’s a good or bad thing for the purpose of this review.

If you’ve read anything else I’ve written you’ll notice I don’t like to use genres as a simple way of describing a band. For a start, most of them are too simplistic but also I don’t understand half of them.

You’re either a metal band or you’re not.

Altar of Plagues are a metal band. The guitars are for the most part grungy and noisy, the drums are often ferocious and the vocals are…well, the human equivalent of grungy, noisy and ferocious.

First track “Neptune is Dead” lasts, good grief, over 18 minutes long. It starts off with some atmospheric guitar then kicks off with some frantic drumming and shouting and riffing. I wonder if this if this is Altar of Plagues’ MO. Halfway through we move into a less ferocious phase. There’s not a great deal of light and shade as such but to be fair its not unenjoyable. What this band seem be doing is creating a landscape, an atmosphere of uneasiness, of darkness, and I found it pretty agreeable. Its not what I routinely want my metal to be, but sometimes its good to be out of your comfort zone.

“Feather and Bone” features some impressive-sounding ambient guitar before getting pretty crunchy. Its also got an interesting, unsettling quiet passage with some piano and acoustic guitar. This has turned out to be my favourite track on the album although its hard to say what elevates it above the others.

“When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” begins with some traditional Irish keening (vocal lament) which really establishes the haunting atmosphere. The track is like a soundtrack for a movie you really wouldn’t want to watch on your own.

“All Life Converges to Some Center” closes the album and follows a path now established through the previous three tracks: unsettling, challenging, bold. And the guitars are terrific. Altar of Plagues seem to know the path they want to be on and are striking out admirably.

After a couple of plays I have now gone on the web to try and find some context for Altar of Plagues and the other band that keeps cropping up is Wolves in the Throne Room. I don’t know anything about them either but listening to some tracks on YouTube I can recognise that Altar Of Plagues are somewhere in the same ballpark.

For the purpose of this review I’ve now listened to Mammal more than half a dozen times and its getting better every time I play it.

Go immerse yourself…but don’t play the album in the dark, on your own.

Which, of course, means do.