Junius - Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light

Junius is back with their Neurosis meets The Smiths sound to complete their conceptual trilogy.You may remember my praising the lads in Junius for their intriguing brand of post-metal jams back when their album, Reports From The Threshold Of Death, came out a few years ago. Apparently it was the middle chapter of a conceptual trilogy that culminates in their latest release, Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light (dem titles tho).

It should go without saying that if you're down with the last album, you'll know what to expect, and will most likely dig this new material. Despite the loss of guitarist Mike Repasch-Nieves, Joe Martinez has taken up the reins on his own to flesh out the loose storyline that previously delved into the state of the soul in the afterlife. Working once again with producer Will Benoit, these ten tracks make for an intense but somehow calming aural journey. At times, the hoary head of Opeth looms large in the band's gothic leanings as on Clean The Beast. But then tracks like All That Is, Is Of The One with its ethereal chorale takes you in a different direction, like a majestic beast winding its way along a lazy path. As with their last album, it's Junius' compelling way of being heavy without really being aggressive that impresses me so much - like a slow-flowing river that will inevitably crush you under its path.

The Bottom Line: Though you don't need to have heard previous entries in the trilogy, Eternal Rituals For The Accretion Of Light maintains Junius' penchant for hybridizing heavy, gothic, post-metal and introspective, 80s era, alt rock. Nice work, that.

- Genghis is imagining Robert Smith with a leather jacket and a Gibson Explorer...