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Album Reviews : Apparitions of Null – Kaleidoscopes

By on January 29, 2015

a3327636490_2It’s a bit of an ambitious move to make your first release a 25 minute track but Sydney’s Apparitions of Null have done exactly that. For those overwhelmed by the length, the band made a smart move by offering it as both one full song and split into three more easily digestible parts.

There’s a lot going on here. Wind sounds and some gorgeous almost Agalloch-esque guitars begin it all before soft clean vocals join the fold. Things build with some haunting breathy growls before a tech-death onslaught kicks in. Some short spoken word moments cut in an out in the background, before some mosh-worthy riffing finishes what is only the first 8 minute part.

Part II is a mostly mellow affair with both the calmer section and the two-minutes of heaviness at the end letting some Opeth influence shine through, without sounding like an imitation. And Part III lacks the metal entirely but is perhaps the finest part, with some truly absorbing vocal and clean guitar patterns early on, finishing with a slow burning solo over the top.

Despite Apparitions of Null clearly shining in the quieter realms, it’s that light versus dark balance that causes the only issue here. With the majority of the brutality sitting early in the piece, it tends to lose forward momentum at times. And the two minute climax, while a great moment, doesn’t feel big enough to support the 17 minutes either side. Thankfully the quality of the music means it’s still worth listening right through, but a bigger fists in the air/windmilling/fuck yeah moment to latch onto would have just boosted those dynamics that extra mile.

Apparitions have lived up to the promise that the original 7 minute demo suggested, and it’ll be very interesting to see how they approach their next album.

Band: Apparitions of Null
Album: Kaleidoscopes
Genre: Progressive metal
Year: 2014
Label: Independent
Origin: Sydney, Australia

About

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.