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"Catharis, a release of emotional tension after an overwhelming vicarious experience, resulting in the purging or purification of the emotions". That's what Wikipedia has to say about this subject. This would make 'Anthems For Catharsis' a collection of musical tension alleviators or, in short, relaxation music. The latter is not completely true. Not everyone can relax to these mysterious, gloomy but heavy drones and certainly not to the pounding percussion.
However, people like Eric Quach can. He uses his music as an outlet for a number of emotions and has been doing that for several years. On his own, armed with a guitar, several effects and a drum machine he purifies his soul and sets his mind free. Luckily for us, he records the rituals so we can enjoy this awesome drone metal. This is a one-man-force to be reckoned with.
This young man from Canada has already impressed us before, both on CD/vinyl and live. He often crosses paths with Aidan Baker, with whom he created the amazing Hypnodrone Ensemble. So, Thisquietarmy is not a stranger to dark, gloomy soundscapes and ambient drones. In fact, he's quickly becoming one of the genre's forerunners and proves this status time and time again. His drones have already reached most of the civilized world.
In short you can say that Anthems Of Catharsis is a collection of drones and soundscapes, supported by vigorous, almost industrial drums. The drums have a cold, snappy sound and give the album a welcome easy-to-listen effect as well as a 'metal' credibility. They're also responsible for the main part of the variation on the album, pretty similar to what I noticed in the James Welburn album which I reviewed several days ago. Equally to Welburn, Quach knows perfectly how to compose pieces of music that seems to live. You can almost hear them breathe.
Different from some of his collegues, Thisquietarmy slowly evolves into a post-rock or post-metal solo act. 'From Darkness Redux' and 'Masquerade' drives the same elaborate structures which makes bands like Godspeed! You Black Emperor or Explosions In the Sky headliners. Yet, Thisquietarmy lays a tremendous ammount of bleakness in his sound, reminding me of some atmospheric black and doom metal bands as well as shoegaze heroes.
In all, Anthems For Catharsis is exactly what the title promises: an outburst of emotions in order to purity the practitioner. In that aspect, this is a deeply personal album for Thisquietarmy. For the listener it's arguably one of the highlights in the recent drone scene, a high quality album that will take you away on unexpected journeys, how cliché that might sound. Eric Quach is becoming a drone-deity, that's for sure...
Serge
However, people like Eric Quach can. He uses his music as an outlet for a number of emotions and has been doing that for several years. On his own, armed with a guitar, several effects and a drum machine he purifies his soul and sets his mind free. Luckily for us, he records the rituals so we can enjoy this awesome drone metal. This is a one-man-force to be reckoned with.
This young man from Canada has already impressed us before, both on CD/vinyl and live. He often crosses paths with Aidan Baker, with whom he created the amazing Hypnodrone Ensemble. So, Thisquietarmy is not a stranger to dark, gloomy soundscapes and ambient drones. In fact, he's quickly becoming one of the genre's forerunners and proves this status time and time again. His drones have already reached most of the civilized world.
In short you can say that Anthems Of Catharsis is a collection of drones and soundscapes, supported by vigorous, almost industrial drums. The drums have a cold, snappy sound and give the album a welcome easy-to-listen effect as well as a 'metal' credibility. They're also responsible for the main part of the variation on the album, pretty similar to what I noticed in the James Welburn album which I reviewed several days ago. Equally to Welburn, Quach knows perfectly how to compose pieces of music that seems to live. You can almost hear them breathe.
Different from some of his collegues, Thisquietarmy slowly evolves into a post-rock or post-metal solo act. 'From Darkness Redux' and 'Masquerade' drives the same elaborate structures which makes bands like Godspeed! You Black Emperor or Explosions In the Sky headliners. Yet, Thisquietarmy lays a tremendous ammount of bleakness in his sound, reminding me of some atmospheric black and doom metal bands as well as shoegaze heroes.
In all, Anthems For Catharsis is exactly what the title promises: an outburst of emotions in order to purity the practitioner. In that aspect, this is a deeply personal album for Thisquietarmy. For the listener it's arguably one of the highlights in the recent drone scene, a high quality album that will take you away on unexpected journeys, how cliché that might sound. Eric Quach is becoming a drone-deity, that's for sure...
Serge