By: Daniela Patrizi
Colaris | website | facebook | bandcamp | soundcloud |
Released on July 17, 2015 via Wolves And Vibrancy Records
I remember when Colaris released that stunning Split album with Ampersphere. That album started my passion with this band and when I recently heard that they were working on a new album I became impatient. But “good things come to those who can wait” and Nexus is coming packed of powerful music and strong melodies.
Post rock/post metal lovers should know who they are but for those of you that still don’t know about them, Colaris is a 2 piece (they are currently looking for a bass player) post rock outfit from Pirmasens, Germany. Their style cover a wide range of sounds from post rock to post metal to progressive music with ambient elements, all blended in a quite original formula.
Nexus is full of emotional passages that captivate the listener and again Colaris demonstrate to be a very balanced band offering a wide range of sounds and taking their time to develop their songs. All the songs have a brilliant dynamism and they are characterized by melodic guitar riffs that are blended with catchy drumbeats. The overall sound appears like the overlapping of several different tones and elements creating a compounded quantity of detail and decay.
Listening to the 8-track album and its approximately 50 minutes running time, you’ll notice that the songs have complex structures and dynamics that are typical loud-quite-loud, that in the case of Nexus are never tedious nor repetitive. The opening ‘Evoke (Nexus pt. 1)’ is a clear example of what I’m saying: this song methodically goes through the motions, and adding layers on layers the band achieve a stellar pick before dissolving again according to the perfect post rock style.
There are several standout moments throughout Nexus that differentiate the new album from the previous Renewal that is a very good album but sometimes a bit predictable.
With Nexus the band achieved a high level of maturity mixing feelings and emotions to a perfect execution. Jessie’s guitar work resonates throughout every track and the dynamics and compositional flow of the eight tracks lead us into a brilliant journey. ‘Maelstrom’, for example, is a beautiful and delicate track and it’s sense of fragility contrasts the pursuing heavy guitar riffs of ‘Laemuria’ that definitely deserve to be enjoyed at high volume.
Another notable moment of the album is when ‘Shoals’ kicks in. the structure of this track fluctuates between energetic guitar riff, dynamic drumbeat and warm melodies that explode together in brilliant and perfectly executed rhythm.
Nexus ends with ‘Nexus (pt. 2)’ that has melodies and progressions that make this track, one of my favorite from the album. A characteristic of this song and of the whole album too, is the sheer elegance of the atmospheric post-rock sound. The explosion of guitar noises and the devastating drums give to the song an apocalyptic dimension and are the proof of the artistry of the German band. I love this track, I really do.
Nexus is a great album. Take your time to adsorb it and let the sound woo you. It won’t let you go.
The vinyl version of Nexus will be a co-release between Wolves And Vibrancy Records, Revolvermann Records and Narshardaa Records.
You can pre-order the double LP here.
