Howls Of Ebb

Even before delving into the music, the listener is probably ready to expect something rather different. Start with the band name -- what does Howls Of Ebb even mean? Check out the song titles on Cursus Impasss: The Pendlomic Vows, and the band member names are equally out there. Yes, this San Francisco project (formerly a trio, now just two guys) are really in their own world. If one must assign genres, they're loosely in the black/death mold, but they really only have passing tendencies of either of those camps. This is seriously bizarro, experimental, somewhat free-form avantgarde extreme metal, really sounding like no one else whatsoever. The vocals are mostly rather distant hushed growls, the riffs twist and turn with plenty of dischorance and a jazzy feel, and the loosely-played drums sometimes almost in their own world. There's a great sense of dynamics here, as the pace jumps from speedy to ultra-slow, and even at their heaviest, this is not the bludgeoning, wall-of-sound noise that some extreme bands go for. It's chaotic, but somehow kept in control. Comparing the two full-length albums reveal a similar sound on both, except that Cursus is even weirder than its predecessor. Clearly not for everyone, but this band is a grower, and one of the most unique bands in extreme metal today.

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Discography

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