Magnatar - Crushed

Angry Metal Guy

I picked this album for its cover art. The delicately-drawn flowers and shattering animal skins have a tasteful appeal, and not just because the floral and fluffy have insurmountable draw for those of the female persuasion such as myself. Under the surface, Magnatar are just as tasteful, and a little more tough. Crushed—their debut LP—is an artistic mix of sludge, ambient, and post-metal in equal parts graceful and vicious. The group have evolved considerably in the four-odd years since their previous offerings—2017’s EP Vulgar, and 2018’s demo The Trail. Now their sound is somewhat smoother, sharper, more precise, less noisy. To say that they have mellowed out a little is not to deny that they are still capable of kicking your teeth in—as they demonstrate. But there is now a refinement to the overall soundscape that, if anything, makes the heavy stuff that much heavier.

I didn’t entirely know what to expect with Crushed, and Magnatar kept me guessing. Sometimes they came at me in a straightforwardly aggressive manner, bared fangs dripping in venom (“Personal Contamination Through Mutual Unconsciousness,” “Dragged Across the Surface of the Sun”). Others they lulled me into a trance with post-rock chill vibes (“Crushed,” “Loving You was Killing Me”). Still again they chose to confuse with noisy distortion and instrumental layering (“Old”), or schizophrenic tempo changes (“Event Horizon”). There’s even a vaguely proggy tinge throughout, surfacing on the jaunty guitar meander in “Crown of Thorns,” for example. In that same song, in fact, they make a 180 into feedback-laden dissonant rage. Don’t misunderstand me, this isn’t by any means a compositionally jarring listen. That’s why it’s good.

Magnatar really shine when they amplify their subtle stoner sensibilities, and focus on the mellow rather than the harsh. Arguably the album’s crowning glory is the nearly nine-minute centerpiece “Loving You Was Killing Me.” Fusing psychedelic metal with a kind of sludgecore, and even a post-hardcore style in its first half, it mutates through a palliative synth interlude into a stirring finale of fluid, energetic drums and a gorgeous sky-piercing guitar solo. I must have listened to this track alone dozens of times, back to back. “Crushed”—which immediately follows—also leans into the dreamily alluring with reverb-laden plucking and sweetly sad viola. And “Crown of Thorns” has’ syrupy cascading riffs that are a ray of hazy sunshine. Elsewhere, Magnatar consistently create a mood with artistically layered vocals (“Dead Swan,” “Personal Contamination Through Mutual Unconsciousness”).

Crushed can be, despite the above, rather heavy, and effectively so. The brooding, echoing fury of “Personal Contamination Through Mutual Unconsciousness” is deliciously dark. “Dragged Across the Surface of the Sun” equally satisfies with sections of stripped-back screams and smash-your-face-into-a-brick-wall sludge. Not all lands, however. The (admittedly unnerving) noisy “Old” feels a little out of place. This isn’t helped by its abrupt length, the suddenness of which is compounded by following track “Personal Contamination…” which is also very short. If these two mini-tracks were somehow combined, or the former cut out, the album would flow better. This faint feeling of unfinishedness also touches album opener “Dead Swan,” which seems to end just as it gets really good. None of this is enough to actually make the album feel disjointed, but it is a little strange.

Aggressive or calm, Crushed manages to mostly maintain a gratifying groove that keeps it on track through its stylistic changes. This is in no small part thanks to the truly excellent drumming by the aptly named John Funk. The full-toned bass of Andrews Pagliuca, also lends a satisfying ictus to the musical pulse. “Loving You Was Killing Me,” and “Crushed” stand out here. Interplay between rhythmic barking screams and wan cleans (Eric Sauter, Colin Ward) creates a pleasant dynamic that makes for easy listenability. Pulling it all together is the clear, rich tone, which gives the album a chilled, mellifluous feel overall. Even the heaviest sections therefore are more gratifyingly punchy than abrasively hostile.

Idiosyncrasies notwithstanding, Crushed has only grown on me. Magnatar‘s tendency toward the psychedelic sides of their genres was a pleasant surprise, and give them a more distinctive voice than your average sludge group. One might get the impression that Magnatar haven’t quite made their mind up on what they want to be—mean or mellow. Then again, they’re doing both together pretty damn well.



Rating: Very Good
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps MP3
Label: Seeing Red Records
Website: magnatar.bandcamp.com/ | facebook.com/magnatartheband
Releases Worldwide: June 3rd, 2022

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