Mare
I just recently read on the bands official myspace that Mare has called it quits. I've never written an amazon review before, and I don't know if I ever will again, but I feel it is my duty to attempt to influence anyone who may come across this to buy this album. Many bands dabble in the kind of doom and dismay that defines this album; Isis, Kayo Dot, even Godspeed You Black Emperor! But I've never heard any other band achieve the pure blackness of this EP.
Every second of every track contributes something to the album as a cohesive whole, as if you've begun staring at one square inch of a sprawling mural, zooming out little by little, until the entirety of the masterpiece is revealed to you in it's final, dying moments. The only other album that utilizes this sort of effect as well (in my opinion) is Jane Doe, and I don't compare things to Jane lightly.
When I first heard this EP I thought Mare was the future of heavy music, now it's the only artifact we'll ever have of a movement that died within its first steps. Enjoy it, and just try not to think of all the things that could have been
R.I.P. Mare. L. Saulsbury
This Canadian 3 piece is no joke. Mare's debut EP is so infectious, there will never be a remedy. Bands like Neurosis, Isis, and The Melvins have been mentioned in previous reviews, but you can't excuse elements of jazz and The Beach Boys. I haven't heard songs with such magnitude, power and diversity in years. The last album to really touch a nerve in a similar way for me was AENIMA by Tool.
Tyler Semrick-Palmateer (former singer of The End) truly shines through out. Here's a man who sounds so vomitous and who's screams make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up (picture Phil Anselmo and Chino Moreno having a bastard son) and then slithers right into beautiful soprano moments and Beach Boy-esque harmonies. And his guitar playing is fantastic as well. Intricate chords and huge riffs make him no slouch whatsoever.
A forward progress in the oversaturated landscape of heavy music, while the others are left far behind picking their jaws up off of the floor. E. M. West
This album is crushing, apocalyptic, depressing, dismal, hopeless, and even hopeful all at once and I love it. This is about the heaviest thing I've ever heard, and those of you who believe slow is heavier than fast will agree. Some of the sickest vocals I've ever heard, mostly heavy but also beautifully clean in some parts. When I first popped it in and heard the first track, I actually thought it was a woman singing the clean parts. The drums are also a stand out, this guy is definately partially jazz influenced. I love everything about it, the only thing seeming a little strange being the first musical part of the second track which is not as slow/dismal/miserable/doom as the rest of the album. After the delightfully eerie church like vocal/keyboard intro to it, it's kind of happy and bouncy compared to the rest of the album, but that doesn't last long before they kick in with the godlike doom. They go from the heaviest of the heavy to the most beautifully clean with both vocals and guitars throughout the album. It just floors me every time. I'm in awe, and this is without a doubt my favorite release of 2004, even though it's only an ep. It's that good. Do yourself a favor and buy it, it's changed my life.Andre M. Almaraz
Mare EP
(stargazer)