Transitioning effortlessly between majestic post-rock and thunderous post-metal riffage, The Howl Ensemble show themselves as descendants of the likes of Pelican. The five tracks on their debut long player, ‘Prooi’ (which is Dutch for ‘Prey) which spans 35 minutes, are complex without being so brain-bending as to lose the listener. If anything, the listener can readily lose themselves in the unexpected twists that present themselves on this ingeniously-mapped sonic journey.
Jazz motifs creep into the space-rock wig-out of ‘Howl’ (which includes a segment of Allen Ginsberg’s seminal poem spoken against the busy, shifting musical backdrop). Elsewhere, ‘Gunslinger’ finds them hammering out jerky squalls of noise a la Shellac. It’s everything and more you might expect from a self-proclaimed ‘instrumental math/noise/post-rock power trio’ from The Netherlands: in short, impressive work.
The Howl Ensemble Online
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