Part Post-Rock or Post-Metal, fostered by airy synths to brood a smooth and welcoming denseness, Kauan lunge into the epic with a touch of Doom Metal pacing with slow and crushing beats. They give momentum to scale on these linear journeys across the vast bewildering wilderness, or possibly oceans as its title and album art suggests a naval inspiration. Tremolo guitars cry out in reverb as the gravitas pulls in a single direction. Slow and simple melodies, often singular, break through the walls of sound as its direction converges on beautiful notations to bring gleams of light to its otherwise un-intuitively baron landscapes.
The record plays as one, growing into its more ambitious metallic beast early on with dramatic symphonic lulls between its eruptions of rugged guitar riffage that misses on Maanpako and does a devilish dance on Raivo when accompanied by howling, lurching screams as it dips into the Black Metal realm. The pull between dark and light is stunning and with its final numbers the music drifts to a calming, Etheral piece with airy, wordless vocals wandering in like a lost spirit. Its quite the contrast from the sailing frenzy in moments past but that is much of the magic of this record, how it holds opposing forces in a special place. The pacing is just right, everything broods and crawls to conclusion, holding us in its cold temporal majesty.
Rating: 8/10