Driving Slow Motion - Adrift:Abyss

Angry Metal Guy

It seems that I was not the only one to like Driving Slow Motion‘s 2019 debut, Arda. That self-released piece of instrumental Tolkien worship appears to have scored the Fort Worth, Texas quintet a deserved label deal with Post. Recordings, which now brings us the band’s sophomore effort, Adrift:Abyss. Its predecessor, Arda, was not an instant banger. In fact, it wasn’t a banger at all, but it is one of my favorite instrumental efforts of recent years. Arda is a record that repays time invested in it, with each listen revealing additional layers of complexity buried in its gentle ambience. More post-rock than post-metal, with heavier moments only occasionally rearing their head, what Driving Slow Motion did so well on that debut was to subtly vary the way in which they built up the soundscapes — sometimes swelling guitars, other times through a change in percussion or indeed dropping the percussion altogether — without any jarring shifts in mood. The whole, therefore, felt like a single, flowing composition, but with enough mellifluous modulation to hold the attention and captivate. Can Driving Slow Motion pull off the same trick on Adrift:Abyss?

Just like Arda, Adrift:Abyss carries with it both a promise of sun-drenched shores and levity (“Cathedral Dreams,” recalling something of the mood of Unreqvited‘s most recent effort), and a heavy threatening storm cloud that, too paraphrase Lando Calrissian, looms like a shadow over everything the band has built. From the droning, dissonant build that opens the record on “Leaves” to the thrumming menace of “The Fall (The Deep Pt. 2),” Driving Slow Motion often appear on the verge of crushing the listener but never do so. Even when the storm does briefly break, it does so in refined and restrained style, like halfway through “The Fall (The Deep Pt. 2),” which is the perfect companion piece to the doom-laden “Shadow & Flame (The Deep Pt. 1)” on Arda. Across Adrift:Abyss, delicate percussion and droning synths sit beneath a swirling palette of guitars, that weave a tale of highs and lows that needs no vocals to tell it.

One of the stars of the show on Adrift:Abyss is drummer Dustin Weaver,¹ who is deployed cautiously across the album but whose deft touch — both in the grander, almost symphonic sections of the record and in moments like the back end of “Mariana,” where he offers up a dynamic and progressive flavor reminiscent of some of Russian Circles — elevates the rest of the band. As for the rest of Driving Slow Motion, they have also brought their A-game, as crystalline guitars shimmer and dance on closer “Another World,” offering deceptively complex structures behind a veil of apparent simplicity. Indeed, it’s only when one really listens — without distractions and giving the record your full attention — that Adrift: Abyss comes fully into focus. The haunting, synth-driven ambience and distant, distorted radio-signal voices that comprise the percussion-free “Reflection” may appear, on first listen, to be an interlude. In fact, “Reflection” is a master class in doing a lot with very little, as it effortlessly generates a mood of whimsical lament that sets up the rest of the record.

When I stumbled across Arda back in 2019, I didn’t know what to expect and, as I said at the time, almost overlooked its qualities by not spending enough time with it, an investment — when I made it — that Driving Slow Motion repaid in swathes. The same is true of Adrift:Abyss: if you just want to put it on and let it wash over you as background music, you can absolutely do that and it will serve that purpose admirably. There is a lot more to Driving Slow Motion, however, which requires you to commit to a few dedicated and focused listens. After that, even in the background, the depths and small flourishes of album highlights “The Fall (The Deep Pt. 2)” and “Another World” shine through. That is in no small part due to the production, which gives Adrift:Abyss a rich and fragile clarity of sound, which works whether in the rare heavier passages or the dominant progressive moodscapes.

As they did on Arda, Driving Slow Motion has delivered a very good slice of slow-build post-rock, which at just a smidge over half an hour, is also pleasingly crisp. This means there is really no excuse for not committing the time that Adrift:Abyss deserves. The moods conjured and delicate touches that mark the record make this a real success and, in many ways, a more balanced, consistent and smooth-flowing effort than Arda, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.



Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: WAV
Label: Post. Recordings
Websites: drivingslowmotion.bandcamp.com | drivingslowmotion.com | facebook.com/drivingslowmotion
Releases Worldwide: September 17th, 2021

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