When your music has no words, I guess you can call it anything you like.
When you’re a three piece instrumental band the focus is going to be on how you fill out the sound and create layers, build moments and make that pay off. Sliknita have honed in on this craft of creating anticipation, teasing and then erupting.
The opening track ‘Breathe’ begins as a subtle jam with clean, spacey guitars picking chords whilst the bass rests on whole notes and the drums tap out a pattern on the ride cymbal. It builds into a restrained 6/8 groove not unlike something you might expect from Japan’s iconic post-rock giants Mono or Envy (look em up kids). The spaces begin to fill with layers of fuzz and reverb washing together until its accumulated into a wall of sound. The melodic progression and gradual escalation of all the parts peaks with frantic drums and the typical staccato post rock lead lines on guitar over the tidal wave of guitars and bass. It’s 9 minutes of great post-rock and the following two tracks on the EP simply continue the trend.
Sliknita hail from Melbourne, Australia where a growing crop of excellent post-rock, progressive and ambient acts are persevering post-Covid after facing some of the longest and harshest lockdowns faced by anyone in the southern hemisphere. It’s safe to say that the impact of isolation has had more than a potent influence on the arts and music scene and we can only hope to see more from Sliknita in the future if this is any measure of what’s to come.
The Prawn Variant is well worth your time to sit, space out and get swept away with a tide of tones, melodies and crashing walls of noise.
