The young Danish sludge trio Rising have a familiar sound, but their ability to pen vast, melodic anthems is sharp enough that originality isn't really an issue. Especially if you're into rockers in the tradition of Baroness or Remission-era Mastodon. Unlike the more recent versions of those older groups, Rising aren't into "experimentation." To Solemn Ash, their 10-song debut, offers straightforward metal that may come laced with the occasional acoustic interlude, but could definitely be reproduced in the smallest, shittiest club in the world without the help of guest musicians, triggers, a psychedelic choir, or a laptop. (The collection, released across Europe in October, saw its American release earlier this month.)
They've found multiple ways to come off expansive and compelling within a tight, traditional framework. In fact, To Solemn Ash goes places a 2009 EP and even a 2010 single couldn't without sounding too much different from either of the earlier efforts. Rising are ramping things up here, and honing a specific style, all without stepping outside of well-worn genre lines.
The sequencing helps. Immediately likable opening track "Mausoleum" and "Sea of Basalt", the song that follows it, find bellowing vocalist/bassist Henrik Hald, guitarist/backup vocalist Jacob Krogholt, and drummer Jacob Johansen (the one new addition after their last recording) firing on all cylinders: "Mausoleum"'s dynamics feel like tectonic shifts, and remain immensely hummable; "Basalt" finds them nodding at Kylesa with gruff multi-tracked vocal shouts and instrumentation that continually ebbs, crests, and regains momentum until the final bit of feedback. (Which raises a question: How do three dudes from Denmark sound so much like four or five folks from Georgia?)
Rising don't maintain this focus for 48 minutes, but there are plenty of "wow" moments like the six-minute Torche-meets-Neurosis of the mid-tempo "ballads" "Cohorts Rise" and "Under Callous Wings", the frantic Converge-like riffing on the album's shortest track "Through the Eyes of Catalysis", and the way you feel like you can suddenly imagine High on Fire as a (very powerful) pop band while listening to "Heir to the Flames".
The trio isn't afraid to groove or veer into somewhat poppier territory, and can pull it off without sacrificing heaviness or getting too cute: They simply know how to write great riffs, and newbie producer Jakob Reichert Nielsen should probably be giving tutorials to "star" recordists who don't yet know how to make metal sound huge, polished, and just-raw-enough in their more renowned studios. It's worth repeating: For all the quality, head nods, and goosebumps this album provides, Rising are, more or less, a basic sludge-metal band. And it's refreshing not having to also pull out the words "post" or "avant" to describe them.
