Supercontinent Vaalbara

To say that Michigan's Supercontinent is taking an overly unique approach to their vein of music would hold about as much truth as the majority of all marketing campaigns found on black stickers on the front of metal CDs everywhere. "An apocalyptic ambush of broadsword fueled destruction." "A disemboweled adventure of imploding darkness." "A prehistoric maelstrom of suicidal gyroscopes." Let's face it: very few bands even come close to branding a new style of hyperbole-worthy heavy music, especially within the Neurosis/Isis spin-off circle that Supercontinent has arrived at so fashionably late. But luckily for these dudes, they've distinguished themselves by excelling in one fundamental area that so many of these so-called "post-metal" groups have appeared to overlook: riffs. This feat is the result of Supercontinent drawing influences from the likes of Crowbar, Baroness, Floor/Torche, and Mastodon. So while other peers in the genre are trying to pass off down-tuned Explosions in the Sky records as "metal," Supercontinent succeeds by unapologetically borrowing elements from the aforementioned bands to create sixty minutes of massive sludge-driven riffs, meticulously planned three part guitar harmonies, and throaty low-end. And with Pig Destroyer's Scott Hull at the helm of the mastering process, you can rest assured that it sounds monstrous. "Cataclysms" shines with its ability to fluidly bridge the gaps between an opening period of huge, off-kilter riffing, an expansive section of slow-moving chord progressions carried by Matt Gauntlett's impressively gruff vocal delivery, and a more up-tempo, hardcore-influenced midsection. "Lakes of Iron" provides rounds of thick, perfectly layered guitar hooks before delivering what many current sludge/doom bands have mistakenly avoided: a minute long Alabama Thunderpussy-type guitar solo. If you're going to draw upon a healthy serving of the South's major metal acts, it sure as hell doesn't hurt to have a raise-your-half-empty-bottle-of-JD-in-the-air moment. "Impact Winter" features the disc's only major lull, a well-placed period of bare guitar work, but immediately locks into gear for one of Vaalbara's most explosive moments and continues to pummel with some heavy doses of remarkably beastly drum fills. Supercontinent never intended to break the mold with this record. But in the process of paying homage to a lot of exemplary metal acts, they've created a record that is impossible to miss in the demographic of fans of big fucking riffs. Perhaps the only drawback to Vaalbara is the disc's timing. Further lyrical inspection reveals passages detailing the primitive days of Earth (geological buffs will tell you that Vaalbara was the name of the planet's first supercontinent, thus explaining the band/record name combination). But all of this sounds a little too familiar; probably because The Ocean just released their Earth-themed metallic masterpiece under a year ago. So it's unfortunate that Supercontinent had a lot of conceptual wind knocked out of Vaalbara before it was ever released, but most listeners should be willing to overlook this snag in favor of the record's effortless delivery of some flat out stellar riffs. And if you're like me, lyrics barely matter in the first place. Just riffs. Bottom Line: If this was a music-oriented psychology quiz there would be one relevant question for determining interest in Supercontinent: Do you like riffs More accurate sub-questions would probe the listener's love of bands like Baroness, Torche, Mastodon, etc., as Vaalbara clearly displays the Supercontinent's fondness for all of the above. This is worth checking out.