Heron - A Low Winter's Sun (2018) (Full Album)

Heron - A Low Winter's Sun (Full Album) Heron is an atmospheric sludge band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Focusing on growth through repetition, Heron takes musical influences from bands such as Isis, Sleep, and Corrupted and combines them with existential lyrical content and audio samples. The result is a swirling miasma of oppressive guitar tone, cannon-like drums, and bestial howls. First things first, the audio quality of this album sounds incredible. Heron adheres to a self-imposed commitment to find the finest intonation possible, remarking that they’re “in a never ending search for the perfect tone…” This is a signature detail that threads through each component of A Low Winter’s Sun, and it substantially amplifies the listener’s enjoyment, especially on tracks that dwell on the drone-heavy side of doom metal.

The electric guitar tones are simultaneously crunchy and crisp, caught somewhere between shoegaze and black metal; alluringly mesmerizing, they invite you drift off amidst the crushing barrage of perfectly produced percussion. Take note of the intimacy of the introduction to the song “Parallels of a Knife Fight,” where one can almost hear drummer Bina’s sweat bouncing off the crash cymbal. The trouble of testing new equipment and meticulously poring over aural minutiae is well worth the effort and a measure of the band’s respect for their art. With the proper tone in their possession, Heron methodically renders blackened doom from their phonic muse. Haste is not a concern for the band, as the quartet deliberately constructs existential terror at their own pace, wringing out dark and inscrutable details slowly as the record spins towards its conclusion.

The opening track “Of Gods and Goats” sets the proverbial stage, featuring an ominous invocation of raspy screams, guttural bellowing, and stoner doom riffs. As the sepulchral procession of distortion continues, the tempo quickens, and a vicious series of mantle-rumbling chords add some death to Heron’s churning brew of doom. These compositions do not cascade or flourish, nor do they unnecessarily hurry through moments of idle droning; rather, the six selections on A Low Winter’s Sun lower you beneath the moist and chilled earth like an occupied casket, glaring down at your descending fate as the daylight dims, and a single shovelful of dirt abruptly scatters atop the wooden tomb.

1. Of Gods and Goats
2. The Great Attractor
3. A Gnawing Worry
4. Uncomfortable Silence
5. Parallels of a Knife Fight
6. Fire Twin

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