Auternus are four young men from Kansas who play a stoner version of post-rock with a bit of good old-fashioned heavy metal thrown in for good measure. This curious mix could be a recipe for disaster but it all hangs together pretty well considering.
The mostly instrumental 7-track EP lasts half an hour and consists of four short ambient pieces named after the seasons and three longer tunes.
The record was recorded back in 2008 and two years on it is finally getting a release in the UK with the promise of a full length album to follow.
It opens with Fall, a drifting piece which lulls you into a calm that is immediately broken by the portentious riffery of Slownotion. This is the best track here and not because it is the only one to feature vocals. It's the slow building dynamics rather than the singing that works so well. Actually, the words are buried so deep within the mix that the singer (Joshua Quint) might be reading a shopping list for all I know.
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On other tracks, Sombre Victory has a very Stone Roses vibe while the 10 minute Chase The Sparrow keeps you waiting for the obligatory power chords before morphing into a down-tempo jam.
The traditional rock elements convince more than the ambient interludes but this is a bold and likeable debut.
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