Cormorant - Dwellings Review

Dwellings is the second album from impressive Californian newcomers Cormorant. After the exceptional 2009 effort, Metazoa, I was very much looking forward to hearing what aural treats were awaiting me. The album was self-released last year. Not only does the album contain high-quality production, it is beautifully packaged as well, with stunning artwork.

Cormorant starts the proceedings with a rollicking number in the form of The First Man.  The song contains a newsclip of the then Australian Prime Minister apologising to the Native Australians for the tragedy of the Stolen Generations. The lamenting guitar solo that follows emphasises the impact of the spoken word passage. Fuzzy rhythm guitar parts add texture and depth.
Track two, Funambulist, maintains the quality standard set in The First Man. The pretty intro riff pulls at my heartstrings, drawing me into the song. The vocals on this track are dynamic, going from sorrow-imbued harsh vocals, to a tougher phase, to dissonant clean singing with great harmonies. Ear-catching riffs abound on this track. There is a delicate echoing riff in a jazz-like, proggy section, and a quiet electric guitar passage. Following that passage, there is a powerful launch out of the melancholia, and a crying guitar solo. Cormorant keep the music cohesive through all the tempo changes, which is something they do with flair. Jazzy drumming, whispered harsh vocals and haunting guitar notes end off this interesting composition. The jazzy drumming also makes an appearance on the track A Howling Dust.

Slowness and heaviness introduce Junta. The other instruments exit for a brief guitars-only interlude accompanying a spoken-word passage, which sounds like some politician giving a speech. The guitars have that 'wah' sound at one point (for lack of a better description), and a haunting tone. The song then explodes into a scream and a faster pace, with pounding drums. The vocals sounded particularly black-metalesque on this track - very raspy and evil-sounding. Another tempo switch comes in, with acoustic guitars joining the rest of the instruments. Von Nagel's lyrics focus on tough issues on this album; eugenics and the junta in Guinea are two examples. He manages to avoid falling into the abyss of pretentiousness (although one could call Von Nagel a bit pretentious), and does a great job on the lyrical content. Just like on Metazoa, the way Von Nagel sings is a noteworthy feature - the growls on Dwellings are distinctive.

A Howling Dust gives the listener the impression of just that - the mostly slow, doom metal-like pace and the bubbling guitars in the later half of the song bring this image to mind. Another aspect of Metazoa that has distinctly reappeared on Dwellings is the music's ability to create clear pictures in my mind. When I heard mid-tempo album closer Unearthly Dreamings, an image of outer space popped into my head, due to its otherworldly sound effects. The harmonised vocals and the guitar melody are a beautiful combination. The sparse and introspective instrumental interlude is also beautiful, and allows the song breathing space. From there, the song takes on a darker tone, with blastbeating. The sparse interlude reappears, and then slows down for the full band's comeback. The tone of this part of the song has a feeling of pathos. There is a great, rock-like guitar solo, and then the song ends with the 'outer space' effect of the intro.

Dwellings has more of a rock feel than Metazoa. Both feature excellent guitar riffs and interesting song structures, but I enjoyed Metazoa a bit more. Nonetheless, Dwellings is still a solid album from a standout band of the American underground.