Latitudes - Part Island (2019)

Unleashing a truly contrasting and quite engaging release, today we have Latitudes and their latest opus “Part Island”. Perfectly blending Sludge, Post-Metal and even some Black Metal-ish elements with dreamy clean vocals, this release will weird you out at first, but will captivate you by the second track. With over 43 minutes of music, the band creates six intricate tracks that feel like you are listening to Amenra or The Ocean with and incorrect vocal track.

Opening with a folky build-up, “Underlie” creates the perfect mood to blow the listener away as the wall of distortion creeps up with thundering riffs. This big transition introduces the band’s pummeling sound in whole and will completely catch the listener off guard. This lush mixture of dreamy vocals and pummeling guitars is perfectly developed in pieces like “Moorland Is The Sea”, were the band slowly builds up an ethereal atmosphere that shifts moods with the heavier onslaughts.

Starting with a thick atmosphere and a very Sludgy tempo, “Dovestone” is a brilliant example of how the band blends styles seamlessly and makes it look easy. The bass guitar melody plays a crucial factor in allowing this track to transition between the heavy riffs and more calm passages. The mood shifts into a bit more melancholic territories with the brilliant “Fallowness”. The furious “The Great Past” has some Black Metal-esque guitar elements allowing it to be quite violent and yet perfectly capture the fagility of the vocals and the overall pace of the release.

Coming full circle, the band closes with the album title track, which features another solemn folky intro that slowly develops into one last Sludy/Post-Metal ish anthem. As a whole, “Part Island” is one very interesting and brilliantly crafted release. The band fuses elements from seemingly disjoint genres into very powerful songs. If you like outfits like The Ocean, Isis, Amenra, and similar, Latitudes is a band that needs to be on your radar.

Label: Debemur Morti Productions

Release: April 5th, 2019

Genre: Sludge/Post-Metal

Country: UK