Review: The Atlas Moth – 'Coma Noir'

THE ATLAS MOTH

'Coma Noir'
PROSTHETIC RECORDS

Sometimes a band's improvement can take you by surprise. From a promising yet somewhat unfocused beginning, atmospheric post-metal outfit The Atlas Moth have blossomed into a stunning band. They've worked hard, supported everyone they can and honed their sound over the course of their last three albums. But still, the quality of their latest long-player 'Coma Noir' may still catch a few people off guard.

The fourth album is a dark and disjointed. Atmospheric and visceral. Incredibly strong drumming underpins the album and allows the guitars, keyboards and vocals to flourish as they circle each other like snakes in a pit before coming together in twisted unison.

Songs such as 'Coma Noir', 'Last Transmission From The Late, Great Planet Earth', 'Galactic Brain', 'Actual Human Blood', 'Furious Gold', and 'The Frozen Crown' are undoubted highlights, providing the album with an anthemic backbone of pounding riffs, furious drums, searing keyboards, sweet harmonics and demonic vocals. The end result is a compelling and breakneck ride through the dark and surreal film noir streets of the album's narrative.

In terms of production this is one of those albums that could be in danger of devolving into a sprawling mess. But it's kept tight, and even at it's most disjointed and atonal sounding it pushes through to a logical conclusion with all of the instruments still managing to work in a strange harmony. As a result no one sound dominates the mix too much and swamps any of the other subtle nuances of the songs.

This album should be the one that puts The Atlas Moth on the map as serious contenders. They've paid their dues and slowly matured into a force to be reckoned with. The songwriting here is the best of any album so far and the execution lives up to their collective ambition. 'Coma Noir' should hopefully see them on the right trajectory from now on.

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