Wednesday 2 November 2016

***SARIN exclusive interview/podcast***

BandSARIN
GenresPunk / Post-Rock / Post-Hardcore / Post-Metal / Doom / Ambient / Sludge / Noise / Experimental / Prog
Related artistsMetsu and Pagan Ritual.
CountryToronto, Ontario CANADA
Years Active2012-present
Song: "As Well as the Body"
Album: "Burial Dream"
Year: 2015
For fans ofIsis, (later) Examination Of The..., Cult Of Luna, Fall Of Efrafa, Old Man Gloom, Zozobra, Teleportoise, (later) Back When, Tephra, Amber, Knut, Milanku, Rosetta, Buried Inside, Titan, Downfall Of Gaia, AmenRa, (later) Tel FyrBreag NaofaNeurosisJesu, Switchblade, Anodes, Godflesh, Ira, Pelican, Omega Massif, Castle, Intronaut, Disappearer, The Ocean, SnowbloodKowloon Walled City, Tigershark and Monuments Collapse.
Label(s): Self Released
This post's artist is from the October 2016 Mix. This is track #5.
You can download: the October 2016 Mix#10 right here or get the new November 2016 Mix#11 here.

I first read about SARIN on the good old Elementary Revolt blog from the early 2010s, noting that they were both from Ontario and influenced heavily by Isis. That more than grabbed my attention so fast forward to 2016 and I contacted the band about playing The World That Summer's cassette release party, to which they agreed. And guess what? Now I'm in love. Let me expand.

On the band's 2012 debut EP, simply titled '-', they begin with sludgy, dirty and raw hardcore/doom/metal in early Isis fashion, most notably the 'Mosquito Control' and 'The Red Sea' EPs. Opener "Above and Below" is an excellent song and appropriately slotted in the number one spot as the towering and poisonous guitars saturate the track's entirety but never make an appearance as strong or as capturing as this again on the record. "Host" is a brooding and eerie number that detonates suddenly at 1:12 and doesn't let up. "Let the Bitter Weeds Grow" is another dark and demonic tremor that'll rip through your soul over its 4:12 duration and is reminiscent of the first Old Man Gloom record 'Seminar 1: Meditations in B' or whatever it's called. The final song "Contract/Collapse" is apparently a demo version, but I haven't seen it crop up anywhere else. Regardless, this begins with very spacey guitars led by extremely driving bass that eventually climaxes into some very Pelican sounding instrumental chugs that were likely influenced by 'Australasia'. A very promising debut, indeed.

In 2013 SARIN released another EP, this time titled 'House of Leaves' which is based on Mark Z. Danielewski's amazing book by the same name. A quick side note, that book is so good I wrote a song based on it about ten years ago with my old band Gali Ma and called it "The Perfect Pantheon of Absence". Back to the band at hand, SARIN knock it out of the park with this bad boy, as tracks one and two are unreal, followed by a short but decent instrumental song and then an extended closer. Both "House of Leaves" and "Mosque" are very heavy, dark and evil, although the former will fool you for the first 1:20 with a dreamy instru-metal intro and leave you a pulverized mess, while the latter will just leave you a pulverized mess. "Black Halls" is also worth nothing as it gives an excellent view of SARIN across the board as they fuck with a few different styles and sounds on this one.

In January of 2015 SARIN released their cd 'Burial Dream' to, from what I can tell, very impressed critics. I really only need to say one thing..."As Well as the Body". That's it. It's too good. It's like, stupid good. The song opens like the band was playing on mute for the first thirty seconds and hits like a ton of post-hardcore/post-metal bricks. The two instrumental jams inserted to break up the gargantuan riffs are mesmerizing and addictive as all hell, as you'll find yourself humming that shit for days. Honestly do yourself a favour and check out the song as well as this live video to hear and see what I mean. "An Empty Place", "Windows of the Skull" and "Apparitions Under Glass" are all ambient/noise tracks. "Monograph" is the longest song lumbering in at 8:23 with a beautifully tranquil opening that gives wake to the first clean vocals by the band. Over the course of this subtle giant the song weaves in and out of slow, brooding and driving post-everything, delivering the climax of the song at 6:45. "-" sounds like 'Celestial'-era Isis with a mixture of post-hardcore/post-metal and grinding, permeating noise. The closer "Reverse Mirror" is more atmospheric than anything else, and a fitting closer.

It was after the release of this album that I first listened to SARIN and then worked my way back in reverse chronological order. After falling head over heels with their collective output I was more than inclined to contact the relatively local band about playing shows and they have since hopped on two killer ones. The first was the band that I do vocals for's (The World That Summer) release show along with Foxmoulder and Terry Green (linked here) during which they blew me the fuck away. Their live rendition of "As Well as the Body" had me salivating everywhere and was the catalyst for asking SARIN to play again in September. That September show (linked here) was with La Luna, Not For You, In The Name Of Havoc and The World That Summer and they played two new songs, the first of which I didn't capture but is the opener on the upcoming LP in 2017 and is the best song I've ever heard SARIN write. Seriously "Ice Wrought" is unbelievable and so is the new album. The blazing guitars that help close out the song gave me shivers. They also played another new one that goes by the name "Amber" that I was able to film, so check that out below.

I have been lucky enough to get to know David Wilson quite well, as he plays guitar and sings for SARIN. He has shared the new album that will be released in 2017 with me and I am fucking floored. The new songs are prodigious as all hell and tower over everything else the band has attempted, save maybe "As Well as the Body" cuz that song is too good. There is also a much heavier use of electronics and ambiance with the newer material as the songs each have distinctive qualities, like a person, and the synths and noise parts generally complete the portrait with a background. There are a few times when the keyboards are at the forefront but usually it melts in with all of the other instrumentals and beefs up the sound like a mofo.

The primary reason I brought all that up is because I recently sat down in my sunroom with David and chatted about SARIN and tons of other music on the OMSB Podcast episode #13, linked here. Feel free to stream or download our three-part/45-minute discussion with six (mostly loooooong ass) songs that include Wye Oak, Back When, Trap Them, Die Princess Die, Prurient and Black Mountain, so you know we were quite eclectic with our band choices. Once again...


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DISCOGRAPHY

2012 - - (stream/donate/download here)

2013 - House of Leaves digitalEP (stream/donate/download here)

2015 - Burial Dream cdEP (stream/donate/download here)

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(2016) SARIN - "Amber" (from their forthcoming LP) live video

(2016) SARIN - "As Well as the Body" (from 'Burial Dream') live video

(2015) SARIN - "As Well as the Body" (from 'Burial Dream')

(2015) SARIN - "Monograph" (from 'Burial Dream')

(2013) SARIN - "Mosque" (from 'House of Leaves')

(2013) SARIN - "House of Leaves" (from 'House of Leaves')

(2012) SARIN - "Above and Below" (from '-')

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SARIN additional links

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