Search - Art Of Burning Water :: The voyage of the pessimistic philosoph

The incredibly oddly titled The Voyage of the Pessimistic Philosoph: An Ode to Believers of the Prevailing Law of Sod is the first I've heard from UK trio Art of Burning Water in the years since their three-way split with American Heritage and Foe. As with that split, this disc comes to us from House of Stairs, though oddly enough the label's website doesn't seem to have been touched in three years!? Whatever the case, this album cranks out 10 tracks in about 27 minutes, so you should generally expect quite short compositions offering a largely instrumental attack of winding riffs and twisted dissonance over pulsing midpaced rhythms that bounce back and forth with somewhat of a math metal type of swagger through loads of tempo changes. But occasional fits of maniacally sneered vocals tear into the picture and add an air of unhinged chaos to the band's presentation as well, so there's plenty of sheer madness to go around (seriously, these vocals are completely f*cking sick, I love 'em). I'd definitely cite this as an improvement over their prior work, especially with regard to the sound quality. Everything was recorded by the band, and while raw, personally I think the recording is pretty f*cking bad*ss. It's really dry and there's a completely natural vibe to everything, to the point where it almost feels like you're in the room with the band (especially in terms of the percussion). And yet it still somehow boasts a clear and balanced mix, so I've got no quarrels whatsoever. H*ll, I really dig the artwork on this thing, too. Nice and spacious with atypical visuals and very little text (no lyrics are included, so I have no idea what the h*ll could possibly be going on behind some of those completely insane song titles). Well done all around. Aversion Online