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Released on January 15, 2016 via Kaotoxin Records
There’s a certain type of logic exercised when picking what release to review. Sometimes the selection is driven by prior experience, or by curiosity based on comments from others. Sometimes there’s a slight smug prestige in hearing something early; sometimes the selection is based on an odd band name that caught your imagination and made you smile after a long day at work. I bet you can’t guess which instance was relevant in the case of French instrumental doom band The Lumberjack Feedback’s debut album Blackened Visions? Yes – I am that shallow. And yes, I did briefly consider finding an actual lumberjack to review the album. And no, I don’t know any.
My questionable decision-making processes aside, how does the record fare? The answer is pretty well, actually. The Lumberjack Feedback have learned from a career that has included live experience with a host of scene luminaries including Crowbar, Gojira, Kylesa and Red Fang, and delivered a record with lots of interesting touches and ticks in the merit column, even if it feels a little inconsistent. One of those touches is the use of two drummers, ostensibly to add a depth of sound to the percussion. Unfortunately this falls into a common pitfall and fails to make the intuitive leap that the two drummers need to play quite different things to get the full benefit. I suspect that the live experience of two drummers playing a common rhythm in concert is cacophonous and rich, but the joys of the studio environment and the age of the digital recording process means that it pretty much just sounds like one drummer with some interesting cymbal and tom patterns. In some sections it does increase intensity – the build in ‘IMereMortal’, for example – and creates an almost jazzy feel, especially with the drums panned cleverly in the speakers, but for the most part it sounds like a single drummer, and therefore although it does lead to some interesting sounds, it still feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.
Whenever I hear ‘doom’ my first question is as to how strong the riffs are; riffs maketh the doom, after all. The answer to this question is, well, fair to middling. There are some excellent riff-y sections in here – see the main riff in the title track ‘Blackened Visions’, for example, but there are also some reasonably standard progressions that don’t add much. What The Lumberjack Feedback have in their favour is a fair number of riffs per song; in a genre where progression is usually slow and riffs can outstay their welcome, The Lumberjack Feedback is ahead of the game in this way, nothing has a real chance to become stale, and if a riff or a particular progression leaves you a little cold then another will be along shortly. Importantly, the composition feels fluid and the quick movement through riffs and structures, and back again works and makes sense. There are plenty of moments where a riff changes direction too – for example ‘No Cure (For The Fools)’ has a great moment towards the end where a building riff moves suddenly into a real pay-off groove, it’s a wonderfully timed twist and it works well.
There’s a nice variation in sound on the record – ranging from dark almost blacked sludge of ‘No Cure (For The Fools)’, the ‘post-‘ introduction section of ‘Blackened Visions’ with its delicate delay drenched guitar line interrupted only by a massive riff, through to Mastodon-hanging-out-with-Russian-Circles style riffing of ‘Dra Till Helvete’, the building and atmospheric ‘Salvation’ and a sound that verges on classic rock – albeit classic rock on beefy steroids – of album closer ‘Mah Song (Horses of God)’. This is also positive – the variation around the theme of the overall sound keeps the record alive and enjoyable, something that is quite difficult to do across the length of an instrumental album. There’s enough core middle ground to the sound to keep the record from feeling like disparate songs thrown together, but enough variation to keep it fresh and to prevent the record from feeling like one long song, which is refreshing. The production helps hugely; the sound is big and clear, with all of the instrumentation given space to breathe, and with no clear genre identity forced upon it by the producer.
For me, this album is a success, albeit a measured one. The variation works well, it’s wonderfully produced and there are some cracking sections. However, the two drummers don’t work as well on record as I suspect they do live, and as a record overall there are one too many riffs that fall a little flat or lack depth, souring the ratio a little. For the avoidance of doubt, this is a good debut full length that is well worth your time, and I have no doubt I will spin it again. Personally I’ve enjoyed it and there are enough little touches of genius to mark The Lumberjack Feedback out as a band to watch out for over the next few years.
