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Released on January 22, 2016 via Debemur Morti Productions
Latitudes has always been that band that has always been around, but maybe you’ve never paid that much attention to. The problem is you should have.
Extremely underrated but incredibly talented, this four piece British quartet is definitely one of the most exciting bands in the post-metal world right now and Old Sunlight is definitely going to raise some eyebrows.
This is in fact post-metal at its greatest here. The brooding, crushing heaviness mixed with some psych elements is brilliantly done. The vocals (which were introduced on the Agonist album) remain even if scarce but the 7 tracks (including 2 interludes) here are mostly instrumental.
Old Sunlight starts off in an unrelenting, heavy and brutal manner. Bits of Neurosis, Pelican, Russian Circles and Intronaut are heard all around, but nothing sounds like a blatant copy. The blend of influences and genres is expertly done.
‘Body Within a Body’ brings on the vocals and melody, but the darkness remains until it quiets down and takes off into an emotionally heavy passage and then abruptly ends. ‘Gyre’ brings back the crushingly heavy blackened post-metal. At the same time, we’re constantly struck by beautiful and intricate guitar work and riffing.
At this point we can realize that there’s not one second on this album that is not executed to perfection. However, one cannot say this is an easy listen. It’s extremely punishing music that is extremely well executed by brilliant musicians. In the meanwhile, we are also immersed by beautiful melodies and soft voices which kind of remind me of Intronaut (especially the track ‘In Rushes Bound’).
It’s been a while since I’ve listened to an album of such intensity. The riffing is sometimes reminiscent of something we’d find on an old school metal band’s album (a good example is ‘Altarpieces’) so there is also a good sense of nostalgia there. Going back to what I said at the beginning, perhaps Latitudes is that band I should have paid more attention to throughout the years. Old Sunlight did get me to go back and revisit their catalog and also respect the band even more. I will definitely be paying more attention to anything they release in the future.
