Bowl Ethereal is a Virginia duo that consists of Brian Metz handling bass and guitars, with influential math rock/metal luminary Pen Rollings (Loinclöth, Breadwinner, Honor Role, etc.) taking on the drums. The band offered up their debut, Five Minutes, as a free download towards the tail end of last year.
Amusingly, Five Minutes is literally five minutes: Five one-minute tracks of instrumental metal jam-packed with chunky rhythms, warped bends, discordant textural flare; and the the jumpy, oddball time signatures one would expect from Rollings' involvement. From "Twenty Three Exciter Dreams" on through "The Last Minute". If you sink into more of a passive listening mode, the minutes actually flow together almost seamlessly, so it's definitely a stylistically consistent set of compositions.
Production-wise, the guitar tone is meaty as hell, and being a duo there's plenty of breathing room, so the bass is very focal in the mix and plays a pretty major role across the board—from the riffs themselves to the recording's overall heaviness factor. Always a plus.
But something unusual about this outing that really struck a chord with me is that the .zip download includes a .txt file that basically outlines a simple request from the band:
"Free Demo = One Email."
I think this concept is brilliant, and damn sure emailed the band immediately after downloading the tracks. (Twice, even!) I've been increasingly bothered over the years by the fact that—especially on the internet—everything has become more and more fast-paced and "gimme, gimme"-based. It seems like the majority of people are geared more towards getting in, getting free tunes, and getting out—without taking the time to send an email or otherwise express some form of appreciation or support for an artists' efforts. Sadly, I'm sure I've been guilty of this behavior on occasion as well, but in recent months I've been trying to consciously slow down a bit and take a moment to stop and send that message.
So... yeah. Go download Five Minutes and see what you think. I'm really curious to hear what the band will come up with moving forward, as their atypically creative approach opens up endless possiblities.
And don't be a lazy bastard: Send 'em that email!
[Edit: Since the time of this writing, Five Minutes has been released as a self-titled 7" by Southern Lord, including "The Sixth Sickener" as a bonus track. Purchasing information is included below.]
Get It
- Bowl Ethereal (mp3)
- Southern Lord (7”)
- Bandcamp (7”/mp3)
