aaamusic | On 14, Jun 2010

Night Of Sevens are a band that call themselves a “feral rock ‘n’ roll” outfit releasing part one of their series entitled ‘The Flood Sessions’. My iTunes insists on classifying them as folklore… this could be interesting.

My first impressions of the crashing yet ponderous opener ‘Dirge For An Angel’ is a UK take on stoner rock, with slurred bass and discordant guitars barely held together by lurching, cymbal-dominated drums. Over this, the vocalist recites what is more a stream-of-consciousness poem than a song. Yet this is not some loose, contented collective who stumbled across instruments to jam. The music has been well thought out, the drums arrhythmically supporting the gripping and demented chaos of the instruments to create one single sound with a deeply hypnotic quality, drawing the listener into the dark poetry of the lyrics as it seethes with a threadlike grasp of rationality.

‘Chemical Attraction’ is a safer track, providing a slightly watered-down pseudo-grunge sound with the occasional glint of something more substantial in the malevolent guitar. However the whole thing feels rather tamed by the flat production job that’s been inflicted upon it.

‘A Girl’s Name’ brings us back to the dark atmospherics of earlier, the guitars wailing and screeching, a throbbing fretted harmonic note creating an ethereal background, and the bass and drums combine to create a pulsating, primal sound to accompany the vocals that fluctuate between snarl, spoken word and borderline yowling. I am simultaneously mesmerised yet left distinctly unnerved by what is happening here. Listen to this alone with the lights off, and you’re treated to a sonic equivalent of playing the early Silent Hill games.

‘Weightless’ cools things down with a spine-tingling echo-drenched riff that does indeed almost float above the sludgy rock/metal proceedings. Midway through, we’re given a hint of Rage Against The Machine in metallic guitars and what is almost a rap verse.

‘Edinburgh’ has a droning opening almost defeatist in tone that wouldn’t go amiss on a film soundtrack, and the weeping trumpets and the mournful vocals occasionally grate but by the first minute have settled into a powerful combination. There is a distinct emotional heft to the track and, as it then embarks on what feels more and more like a funeral march, I am moved. Although on the surface these tracks might not be immediate, they seep under your skin and into your blood, and without realising it, you find yourself wholly immersed in their twisted sonic and poetic landscape.

Overall, I am left somewhere between The Stooges and Jane’s Addiction by the squalling noise, barbed-wire mood and sprawling weirdness of the whole affair, and a distinct impression that perhaps, like Jane’s Addiction, Night Of Sevens are a band that need to be seen live in order to be understood and appreciated, as these tracks seem somewhat hampered by being recorded and studio-bound, and I’d like to see and hear them in their full majesty on stage.

As for the rest of ‘The Flood Sessions’ series of two EPs and a documentary, I am hoping that better production allows for a greater display of sonic power.

Keep an observant eye out for further instalments. Something potentially great is at play here, and I for one want more.

Author: Katie H-Halinski