Storm Static Sleep: A Pathway Through Post Rock

by Jack Chuter

It’s within this duality that so much post-metal music exists. The blood of the body is poured into the contemplative well of the mind. During its quieter downturns, there’s little separating post-rock from post-metal (aside from a slightly harder edge – guitar downstrokes and firmer, kraut-style beats are more frequent in the latter). It’s during the louder moments that the distinction really proclaims itself. Unlike post-rock, there is never any risk of post-metal etherealising. If anything, it threatens to detonate irreparably. Instead of rising upward into the skies of the high frequencies, dovetailing into delays and fizzing with distortion, post-metal aims its energy downward. Slow, tectonically driven rock music such as doom and sludge metal (St. Vitus, Melvins, even Black Sabbath) are prominent reference points. Vocals are frequently granted a central presence too, dropping the screams of human anguish directly into the earthquake crevice.