Stömb – Massive Disturbed Meta Art
Release Date: 17th March 2023
Label: Klonosphere Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Instrumental, Metal, Prog, Djent.
FFO: V3ctors, Chronologist, Walking Across Jupiter, Meshuggah.
Review By: Jason James
Stömb look to creep into more subconscious minds with their latest happening, Massive Disturbed Meta Art. Aurélien De Freitas (Guitar), Tom Bonetto (Guitar), Alexandre Garachon (Bass) and Tom Gadonna (Drums) collaborate similarly minded artists to create a journey full of twists, turns, surprises and mysteries.
This review was difficult to write. Not due to writer’s block or anything like that, but because this is an album that is hard to describe, while being deceptively easy to listen to. Experimental is an understatement. The Parisian 4-piece seem once again intent on making it their mission to distinguish themselves as different from every other band in existence. The resulting album is intriguing.
Every track on Massive Disturbed Meta Art seems to have been plucked from a different genre and a different time. The Extantrasy begins like the soundtrack to a 80s post-apocalyptic epic, whereas Kaleïdoscope almost has a Massive Attack/FKA Twigs feel to it. An Absence Of Sun begins like a cutscene from an early 2000s fantasy video game. There’s a saxophone solo on the track Meta Art!
The common thread sewn throughout this luxurious robe of an album is the metal that underpins each change in style. Although each track has its own unique components and feel, the quartet manages to expertly take what seem like scraps of unrelated pieces and fashion it into something fit for the most discerning connoisseur. I still haven’t been able to figure out quite how they did it.
When the band do ramp up the power of their instruments, the return is worth waiting for. They effortlessly create heavy music while also being able to slip in and out of genres, apparently at will.
This is one of those rare bands that made me want to go and invest in all their back catalogue as well as their new offering. Highly recommended.
(4.5 / 5)
