On their newly available debut full-length album No Solace For The Soulless, the Tampa, Florida-area group Pipe Dreamer share richly compelling post-metal that frequently feels wildly heavy and always feels emotionally resonant.
The group’s music seems powerful yet mournful, as though grinding cosmic or metaphysical gears to a halt and contemplating the scope of a loss. Within the instrumentals of No Solace For The Soulless, the combination of powerful heaviness with emotional malaise feels just about instantly striking, as though the instruments themselves are communicating the metaphorical story of the record. It’s like a soundtrack for mental exhaustion, with shuddering and thunderous riffs that significantly broaden the album’s experience as the core perspective remains very personal. Moving through the record feels a bit like standing on a beach as menacing storm clouds roll in and gradually cover the horizon.
The sound is generally rather unencumbered, and the melodies are poignant — there’s not much chaos or overt anxiety here, and the piercing emotion of the melancholic melodies sits on full display thanks to the generally slower tempos and all-around strong songwriting. Generally speaking, the songs move with a resounding and consistent forward force, as though traveling in real time through the experiences communicated on the record. “Struggle and Strain,” the album’s opening track, smoothly builds into brisker performances, and follow-up track “Now or Never” follows a similar path. Meanwhile, although much of the record hinges on a pensive (but always very heavy) vibe, “Go With Grace” features particularly fast moments, as though intensely rearing up.
Although the songs generally follow their own course outside of verse-chorus-verse structures, they feel centrally focused and swirl around core themes. Musically, there’s always a formidable bulkiness in the often gargantuan sound, and combined with the feelings of the melodies themselves, this weight seems emotional too.
Broadly, the music feels like an experience of desperation, although even within the cloudy expanse, there’s a sense of subtle emotional freedom because of the compelling honesty shining through the sonically straightforward record. The clouds don’t disappear, and the record doesn’t hinge upon moments of particular brightness, but the clarity in the songs feels fundamentally refreshing.
5/5 Stars
Listen to No Solace For The Soulless below!
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