Seismic

Heard one track on a weblist of post-rock; ordered the album on the strength of that one track, and the CD has been in my car almost ever since. A sublime album, shades of Deftones, hints of Cult Of Luna, smatterings of Year Of No Light, strong flavour of 90's British Shoegazer scene, but overall an intriguing and lovingly crafted slab of superior Post Rock.

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It has a few flaws. But before I get to that let's look at what it does well. The sound drifts between quiet and loud, with jingling distant chimes and sludgy riffs, or soft strums to foot stomping rhythms. The transitions are smooth or function well to lift the songs.We can compare this band to a great many artists, for a great many reasons. The obvious ones would of course be Isis (it's producer), Jesu, Explosions in the Sky, etc. The not so obvious would be in its moments of Black Sabbath, Kyuss, Nothing, QOTSA, and even moments of Tool. But instead of the technical complexity that these latter bands offer Spotlights tend to drill riffs and lull into the shoegazer genre. And, for me, this is the really astounding thing about this album, it flows between various genres of metal and post rock without interrupting the listener through shock or bad timings.I read a review on some dude's blog and he brashly labelled the songs as "samey". But this is far from the case. If this is samey then so is Burn My Eyes and White Pony under the same glass of scrutiny.But all is not rosy. The drumming is bland to say the least, doing little more than keeping time and showing little attempt to colour the music with any of the musician's personality... this is fine of course, but with a sound like this some sweet fills, or even the remotest involvement in the creative process would have added, not taken away. Maybe this has something to do with the partner lead guitar and bass and where they focus their musical energy. The other issue I have is with the production. Overall it is a great mix, well recorded and well mastered. The issue is with the concept. The album has the feel of a concept album (remember them?) from start to finish in its song-writing and order (if you put it on loop the last track even links with the first (as with their last album)), but transitions between tracks break the flow. The prime example is between track 3 and 4, with a little effort that could have been awesome, instead it fades between tracks losing the momentum gained.I would recommend it. It's not a masterpiece, but it is a great album and moving in the right direction.

I first heard Spotlights opening for a band I'm a big fan and I was quite impressed with their ambient sound mixed with the droning guitars and drum work. I checked out and purchased their 1st LP Tidals and it blew me away. The electronic soundscapes, heavy guitar, and distant vocals is far from what I listen to on a daily basis but it was near perfection to my ears.My hopes and fears both came true on the 2nd LP Seismic, while maintaining similar ethos to the music the band has created a very good album. The issue is, the atmospheric genius of the 1st album is still here but in smaller doses. In it's place is more of heavy sound which is still good but takes away a bit of the uniqueness of their sound.All in all, I'm more than pleased with the LP and I'll continue being a fan and I'll hope to catch them soon at a venue near me.

One of the best albums of 2017.

Came in two days. Fantastic album on red vinyl. Worth the money.

This band is an excellent and new breath of fresh air. I've been following them since their first EP and seen them live a few times. They never fail to impress.