Sleeping Village Reviews
  • REVIEWS & PREMIERES
  • ARCHIVES
    • OLDE REVIEWS
    • OLDE INTERVIEWS
    • OLDE FEATURES
    • OLDE PREMIERES
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!

MERLOCK - Idolon (return) (Track Premiere)

11/16/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
I've said it (many times) before and I will undoubtedly say it (many times) again: there's nothing quite like witnessing a band evolve over the course of their first few releases. In the case of Spokane's Merlock, I first became familiar with their work back when ye olde Village was a youthful and untested participant in the metal blog-o-sphere. These self-described forlorn stoners had released a debut 3-track EP that I found pretty damn enjoyable--to blatantly plagiarize myself: "Merlock is subtly off-kilter in the best of ways, an odd amalgamation of The Jesus Lizard’s intrinsic weirdness, and the astral wanderings of Merlin...the result is a kind of caustic, trippy, and rough-around-the-edges stoner doom, and it lights a little fire in my heavy (metal) heart." Their second and third releases, prolapse and that which speaks​.​.​., felt like a clear maturation and movement into more morose post-doomy waters, and while I regrettably reviewed neither, they certainly satisfied this particular scribe.

That leaves us here, at the precipice of their forthcoming album/project/compilation, prepared to observe once more the fruit of their potential. 
You Cannot Be Saved is a collection of assorted moments across the Merlock timeline, ranging from rerecorded tracks from earlier releases, to a single plucked from an upcoming 2022 project, to an "Electric Funeral" cover. While the whole thing is certifiably fantastic, the track we are discussing here today is a re-tooling of Idolon, one of my favorite Merlock songs to date. Without further ado: give it a listen below! As always, we'll meet ye on the other side.


​"Idolon (return)," very much like its original form, squirms and writhes with an odd and fascinating motion, covering a whole lot of ground--or perhaps space?--in the process. That said, it is an undoubtedly heavier and darker affair. These 8 minutes are punctuated by a distinctly haunting dreaminess, an enveloping swell. The plodding riffs, crashing cymbals, and vocals--alternating between swallowed roars and hypnotic 
yawning cleans--set the stage for the most enjoyable process of drowning one might render imaginable. This track pulls you in, and while there's no real indication of where the riptide goes, 
"Idolon (Return)" maintains a level of immersive interest that rivals, dare I say, the 2020 version. I particularly enjoy the last few minutes, wherein the guitar rises out of the sludge to deliver a soulful psychedelic solo. This shimmering touch at the end is a nice capstone on a track that spends most of its runtime dwelling in the shadows. Excellent use of contrast, and an excellent example of Merlock's increasingly nuanced approach to songwriting over time,

I like Merlock because they are patently weird in a way that feels nearly intangible. Their brand of psychedelic post-doom/sludge isn't overtly chaotic or artsy, but despite a distinct calling card, everything subtly stands a few inches away from genre expectation and convention. This track--and the release as a unique package--feels like a prime representation of their sound and ethos. Again: 
subtly off-kilter. Needless to say, I'm a fan, and recommend you check out You Cannot Be Saved in its entirety upon release this coming Friday, Nov. 19th. If you're particularly impatient, check out this video.

Merlock - You Cannot Be Saved will be released Nov. 19th, and is available for pre-orderhere.

Merlock can be found:
Bandcamp
​
Instagram
Facebook

tiktok
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    WELCOME!

    We provide thoughtful reviews of music that wakes us from slumber. Written by a highfalutin peasantry.

    Archives

    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021

    Categories

    All
    Acid Rock
    A High Quality Death Metal Album
    Album Premiere
    Album Stream
    Ambient
    Antifascist
    AOTY
    Atmospheric
    Blackened Death Metal
    Blackened Doom
    Blackened Thrash
    Black Metal
    Brutal Death Metal
    Cinematic
    Classic Rock
    Crust Punk
    Death Doom
    Death Metal
    Death Thrash
    Demo
    Doom Metal
    Dungeon Synth
    Electronic
    Electronica
    EP
    Epic Metal
    Extreme Metal
    Folk Metal
    Fresh Meat Friday
    Gothic
    Grindcore
    Grunge
    Hardcore
    Hard Rock
    Heavy Metal
    Heavy Psych
    Indie Rock
    Industrial Metal
    Instrumental
    Jazz
    Lists 2022
    Mathcore
    Melodic Metal
    Metallic Hardcore
    Mini Reviews
    Music Video
    Noise
    Old School Death Metal
    OSDM
    Pop Rock
    Post Metal
    Post-metal
    Post-rock
    Power Metal
    Powerviolence
    Prog
    Progressive Metal
    Prog Rock
    Psych
    Punk
    Raw Black Metal
    Release Day Roundup
    Retrospective Reviews
    Reviews
    Rock
    Sludge
    Soundtrack
    Speed Metal
    Split Releases
    Stoner
    Stoner Doom
    Stoner Rock
    Swedish Death Metal
    Symphonic Metal
    Synth
    Synthwave
    Thrash Metal
    Track Premiere
    Track Reviews
    Traditional Doom
    Traditional Metal

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • REVIEWS & PREMIERES
  • ARCHIVES
    • OLDE REVIEWS
    • OLDE INTERVIEWS
    • OLDE FEATURES
    • OLDE PREMIERES
  • SUBMIT FOR REVIEW!