The Atlas Moth An Ache For The Distance (2011)

The Atlas Moth hail from Chicago Illinois and have come to the attention of the metal underground within the last couple of years. After offering a wide pallet of different styles and concepts within metal since there 2009 inception there latest offering An Ache For The Distance has raised the platform most experimental progressive metal bands aim to achieve which they have done by the barrel load and very early on in there career.

The Album Starts of with a track bluntly entitled Coffin Varnish which starts of with some tasty legato based guitar riffs lashed together creatively with hordes of Reverb and Delay creating sound scapes which have become notoriously associated with acts such as Isis, Tool, Katatonia. The Drums have a natural open airy feel which complements the dark and brooding tribal tom sounds perfectly blending well with the tension and atmosphere consistently from start to finish.

The 2nd track which is personally my favourite starts of with a groove based pitch shifting riff which goes to show how experimental these guys can be crafting a song which has there own unique stamp on it while still unleashing influences of classic stoner and doom metal bands such as electric wizard and orange goblin. The vocals themselves are strong and coherent despite the lo fi busy instrumentation sections and the chorus itself is catchy enough you even find yourself humming or singing along to it.

As the album progresses you find yourself finding fresh new inspiration between each track track 4 Gemini has a slow atmospheric black metal vibe which gives the album plenty of chance to slow down while still keeping the listener interested it bounces between clean chanting verses to a doom laden chorus.

An Ache For A Distance starts with an early neurosis style riff and mastodon style sludge vocals reminiscent of there remission and leviathan era. 

As we reach track 7 they bring the pace down once again with an almost 70's style dark Synth which neatly

compliments the vocalists deep clean chants. This song presents the listener with a lot of versatile clean picked riffs and slow punchy bass lines which stands out as a slightly simpler constructed song but powerful and well placed before the last two finishing tracks approach.

The 10th track horse thief hits the listener with a dark Black Sabbath,Electric Wizard doom riff but the vocals do not follow the cliché of being in your face they are sat further back in the mix and brought up for the chorus for a stronger and more dynamic feel. As the song and the album comes to a close the instruments fade out one by one to reveal a wolf like howl. 

Overall this album has blended the best of doom,sludge psychedelic and black metal into one easy to consume package which flows as a collective piece which can be enjoyed from start to finish. It also shows how strong an album can actually be when a band think outside the box and try there best not to be to much like other bands. 

Alright the album itself may never be a big mainstream hit but it is sure to be an underground classic and is worthy of a listen from fans of mastodon,sleep, high on fire, crowbar and many more. And due to its consistency i find it worthy of the following rating

5/5