Release date : April 2, 2020
Genre : Instrumental sludge, Progressive metal
Label : MoonQuake Records
FFO : Pound, Nova Collective, Scale the Summit, Russian Circles, Plini.
I have to say, this EP from Tardigrade was an unexpected surprise and a pleasant discovery.
Throughout it's 22 minutes of runtime, the band constantly kept me on my toes and often challenged my expectations by diving in and out from a mellow, introspective atmosphere to harsher, more aggressive segments.
There's some great contrasts going on in this EP between smoothness and tension and I really enjoyed the progression of the structure of each track (especially the last 2 minutes of the final, title track "Ghost Hunting" which jumps from a dreamy arpeggio section to a bass-heavy breakdown into a jazzy interlude before concluding the track in deafening chaos) ; of the EP as a whole as a matter of fact (which the interlude track "Apparition" reinforces).
I also really enjoyed the bass tone on this project and the spasmodic guitar punctuations (the intro of "Evidence" for instance).
The only major flaw I can find to this EP is the fact that some of the transitions between different parts come off as a bit too abrupt and don't sound very organic, which can be a turnoff to some listeners.
Other than that, "Ghost Hunting" is a pretty damn solid project and I'll be keeping an eye out for future material from these guys.
Comments