Mar de Grises - The Tatterdemalion Express CD Review

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2004-04-02 : Rdorigo G : Link
METALREVIEW.COM
by Ian Dreilinger

Oh, how long it’s been since a doom record has proved both innovative and entirely pleasing to hear. Oh, how long it’s been since a doom record has taken more than a few casual spins to assimilate. If any genre can be labeled stale and mostly sterile, it’s doom metal. With mundane releases by bands like My Dying Bride in abundance, there’s rarely anything worthy of much excitement. All seem to feature the same melancholic vibe and with a plethora of clones, individuality is scarce. Mar De Grises is this year’s first exception, but hopefully not the last. The Tatterdemalion Express has been in constant rotation over the past few weeks and while it was initially pleasing, it’s become more and more gratifying a listen as its unique vibes and subtleties have made themselves more apparent.

Rooted firmly in doom, Chile’s Mar De Grises has made something odd and hugely diverse. The songs are huge, seven tracks nearing an hour, and they’re plentifully grandiloquent to keep from overstaying their welcome. The long-winded and subtle instrumental passages in between the more straightforward song oriented sections are the most notable feature that sets this band apart from others in the world of doom. They feature elements of psychedelia, neo-classical, and even what I might consider post rock. Every song’s core is melodic and extremely atmospheric, but that’s where the similarity ends. Some are borderline funeral doom, others are more melodic and mid-paced, and there are even a few forays into both death metal and even metalcore.

The production is very dense when necessary and crystal clear during mellower moments. It’s not perfect, but the desired wall of sound is achieved when necessary and overall its sound quality is far better than merely adequate. The guitar sound is crisp and strong, but the overall sound could be a bit more bass heavy. Piano/synths are very clear, though sometimes a bit overbearing, mostly when being used for atmosphere’s sake. The drumming is definitely exactly as it should be. Everything has exactly the punch that it needs and is exactly the right volume level for the music.

Mar De Grises is obviously made up of amply competent musicians. It takes more musicianship to be able to write such bizarre music than something more standard does, and the execution of these strangely beautiful songs is without flaw. The faster and more aggressive sections are superbly played, showcasing the fact that these guys are more than run of the mill doom. Though the more dirge-like sections and ambient interludes aren’t as dazzlingly technical as some others are, the necessary restraint is impressive nonetheless.

If you’ve gotten tired of nearly every doom album being nearly identical to many others, Mar De Grises is for you. If you’re tired of doom being instantly digestible and growing tiresome after far too few listens, Mar De Grises is for you. If, on the other hand, you don’t like any sort of adventurousness in your music and want to “get” exactly what the band is doing on first listen, stay away. Personally, I think this is an extremely gratifying listen that will likely continue to mature well for quite some time to come.
2004-04-02 : Rodrigo G : Link
DIGITALMETAL.COM
reviewed by John Gnesin

MAR DE GRISES
The Tatterdemalion Express
(Firebox Records)

Whereas the title of this album reads "Express", these Chilean upstarts take you on the scenic route with their brand of atmospheric doom which is as impressively mature as it is mind-blowingly expansive. Mar de Grises somehow manage to fuse the abstract slow-motion horror of funeral doom with the lush melancholy of the more romantic folksy variety, thereby abhorring a vortex of eerie magnificence and crushing beauty.

From its gut-wrenching opening cataclysm, a ride on The Tatterdemalion Express is a trip like no other, taking the listener to a variety of different places both within and without via their sonic evoking of the pure and beautiful, the ugly and obscene. "El Otro" smashes and stomps its way into your consciousness before letting off steam, leaving us with only a solitary piano and some sparse guitar playing to guide us gently back into the abyss. "To See Saturn Fall" is a terrifying uphill journey at a quicker pace, barely skirting the edges of the crevice before triumphantly striding up to a peak of Andean proportions. If "Storm" is the soundtrack to ascending the steep face of an imposing cliff, than "Recklessness" is the descent into the lush valleys.

It might just be the band's somewhat obscure location (quick! name 10 Chilean metal bands, ok, name 5... 2?), that leads me to these geographic metaphors, but this album really does play like a travelogue through the artist’s conscious and subconscious. It is rare in this scene where extremity, brutality, and obscurity are so heavily valued to find a band that while certainly heavy as all fuck, really allows their emotional identity to shape their performance. Here you will find well-conceived and articulated musical purpose as even in the band’s most chaotic moments there is a synthesis and cohesiveness that has all but disappeared from the world of extreme metal song-writing.

Of course there are individual performances to be commended here as well, most notably that of Marcelo Rodriguez handling the vocal duties, piano and keys. His presence is subdued both in the compositions and the final mix, but his wistful wailing and spare but strong melodies bring an extra, subtle force to the heavier fare wrought by his band-mates. Mar de Grises boast 3 guitar players within their ranks (with Rodrigo on bass, doing a bit of double-duty), so unfortunately I am unable to directly credit the amazing solo that ends "The Storm". Alejandro shows admirable restraint in keeping his percussive work above the fray, allowing the other musicians room to shape the music, but when called upon to come down hard on his kit, he does so with frightening abandon, especially on the song "Be Welcome, Oh Hideous Hell". The album closes with the shifty and spacey "Onirica", and the density and fury which the band has built up the whole album slowly dissolves within the folds of Arce’s methodical drum work and Marcelo’s epic keys.

All in all, The Tatterdemalion Express is as solid a debut album as any fan/band can wish for. The production is solid, allowing the impact of the music to be felt deeply within each listener; while the compelling song-writing and more importantly the sequencing of these songs prevent the listener from getting lost or jaded as is usually the case with a lot of doom albums these days. I would like to end this review by saying something encouraging, like Mar de Grises will be huge or rake in the dollars, but unfortunately that will probably never be the case. It is not that these Chileans are not good enough for the mainstream metal fan, it’s that they are too good for the immature tastes of the mass consumer. Those who truly explore metal, those who do choose to seek out this recording will find a treasure of immeasurable value in the heart of the Andes.
[John Gnesin]