Moth - Endlessly In Motion

Ever since I finally got around to listening to Gojira and Meshuggah, which unfortunately did not happen until last year as my musical horizon has expanded exponentially since that time, I have been really into ambient yet technically auspicious music. I happened upon the band Moth thanks to twitter, and ever since I have fallen in love with their music. The band only had three or four songs at the time I found them, but I was really excited to see where they would go with it. Thankfully that twitter friendship gave me the opportunity to review the bands’ debut LP Endlessly In Motion and for that I am very grateful.

Where to begin? There are so many great aspects about this album it is going to be hard not to sing praises the entire time but I will surely do my best not to sound like a giddy little school girl. The first thing they nail straight on the head is the ambiance  which is chief for me. It is an incredibly beautiful album that uses driving riffs, dissonant guitars, and some keys to make a wonderfully ambient album akin to the way Gojira creates ambiance on their work.

The mix of heavy fast paced work and the sower ambiance works incredibly well. It plays to your desire to chill out and just listen to music, while simultaneously fueling the animalistic need to just go nuts and wreak havoc. They weave grandiose webs of solo work, staccato riffs, and growled vocals. It is a ferocious album that does not give you much break, save for maybe the intro of the track ‘A Vast Expansion’ which is only working towards exquisitely perpetuating the ambiance of the album. However this break does not last very long before we’re thrust back into fierceness. They have really done a fantastic job assaulting you with sound while also providing a catharsis of sorts in the ambiance. It’s something you really cannot get enough of.

Endlessly In Motion plays with technical aspects as you will find all throughout. There are blast beats and double bass rhythms a plenty, but the bands focus is more towards the groovy heavy-hitting-riffs end of things. They take a note out of Meshuggahs’ book in the rhythm guitar department, often sticking with semi-simple riffs with complex rhythms, using a somewhat minimalistic approach at times, but overall it’s combined to make an album that feels technically stunning.

I am not sure if I have succeeded in not praising the whole time, but it is rather hard not to when you have an album of this caliber on your hands. Endlessly In Motion does not feel like a bands first effort. It is quite a masterful creation and is definitely something the band should be proud of. This feels like band that has been at it for years and knows the ropes, which only makes me more excited for the bands future. 2013 has just begun and I already have an album that will likely rank high on my year end list.

(Update: It's available! http://mothmusicproject.bandcamp.com/) The album is set to release on January 11th, so here's an album teaser: