Sannhet – Revisionist (The Flenser)
Tuesday, 10th March 2015
Sannhet is an instrumental, post-rock/post-metal outfit from Brooklyn…sounds awfully hipster, eh? Say what you will about such hotbeds for like-minded, mainstream-fighting folks (Portland, OR instantly comes to mind as well), but the reality of the matter is they have fully infiltrated the metal scene, and don’t appear to be going away anytime soon. It’s a fact a lot of us old-timers or hardliners will have to live with, which means that taking groups like Sannhet at face-value is probably the right approach, for even if they were from the sticks of Iowa, their take on post-whatever metal is buoyant on their second full-length, Revisionist.
Because vocals are such a non-essential part of post-metal (see: Cult of Luna, Isis, et al, any of whom have a standard, uninteresting growler), Sannhet is easily able to fill such a void with swirling guitar lines, atmospheric backdrops, and by and large, compositions with enough dynamics to more than get by. The pulsating opening title track certainly falls in line with that; same with “Empty Harbor,” which is perhaps the best example of the band’s stockade of those monolithic ear-worm riffs. From a melodic standpoint, Sannhet doesn’t seem too interested with taking similar kind of dips the aforementioned Cult of Luna/Isis were so prone to, as in, cutting away from the heaviness, and dipping one’s toes in delicate, lightly-strummed breaks. Not a whole of that here.
Revisionist is certifiably anything and everything one could ask for from an instrumental post-metal album. While this movement has waned over the years, the familiar, yet engaging nature of Revisionist proves Sannhet have a future in front of them. Plus, word on the street is they have a killer light-show to accompany their live performances. Hooray for visuals.
