EHNAHRE — The Man Closing Up (review)

EHNAHRE — The Man Closing Up album cover Album · 2008 · Death-Doom Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
The Man Closing Up is the debut full-length studio album by American experimental doom/ post metal act Ehnahre. The album was released in September 2008 by Sound Devastation Records. The band is a three-piece consisting of drummer Ricardo Donoso, Ryan McGuire on Bass, Double Bass, Vocals and Percussion and John Carchia on Guitar and Vocals. The last two also hold membership of Kayo Dot.

The music on the album is of a very experimental nature. Almost avant garde at times. We´re talking noisy, doomy, dissonant and at times minimalistic and droning metal with a dark and sinister atmosphere ( there are some uptempo parts in the music too). Whenever the vocals kick in you´ll be exposed to a really caustic and aggressive delivery. The 5 tracks on the album are all pretty long ( all exceed the 6 minute mark) and it takes a couple of listens to fully absorb what the band are trying to communicate. A big part of the sound is the long twisted doom/ drone parts which at times sound like improvisation, but still come off tightly structured. There´s great tension in those sections and when the more straight forward ( only straight forward in comparison to the more experimental parts) parts with the aggressive vocals appear it´s like a relief. All those minutes of building tension is almost too much for someone like me who usually crave more "busy" music, but I have to admit that it works here. There are some sections where the slow experimental "drone" goes on for a bit too long though and that drags my rating down a bit, but I´m sure that´s a matter of aquired taste.

The production is raw yet still very succesful.

Ehnahre are one of those acts that are pretty sure to take you by surprise. They totally twist conventions, and make an effort to create something unique and adventurous and I greatly respect that approach. I think they succeed very well in that mission. The music is almost too weird and inaccessible at times though and that makes for a very hard listen. I have to be in a certain mood to be able to get through the full album. Sometimes if I´m not in the mood, the music annoys me and the album comes off quickly, but those times when I´m in the right mood and I put on The Man Closing Up it works dark and bleak magic. Those days I would rate the album with 4 stars, but other days it´s only a 3 star rating, so I guess I end up with 3.5 stars. I find The Man Closing Up highly recommendable to the curious fan of twisted, adventurous and very unconventional doom/ post metal.
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