National Sunday Law aren’t in any way, a religious two-piece (in fact, quite the opposite). Throughout our musical history, purposeful subtleties have lived within the fabric of many artists’ names, but choosing “National Sunday Law”, seemed outright odd at first glance, for two atheists. On the flip side their music doesn’t express an uphill struggle against the devout, which is more than refreshing, especially in the said genre (Doom, progressive metal).
The Fifth Ape continues were their previous entry “La Storia Di Cannibali” left us, deep in a brand of post-rock and doom metal. This E.P’s notable change from its precursor is that it’s a much more muscular affair in comparison. The song structures are directly laid out, carrying you from riff to riff in a quicker motion than previous. And whilst the material here is similar stylistically, it twists and rocks with you in an immediate urgency, instead of the progressive layering heard on their previous record. The biggest merit on The Fifth Ape, is that it’s somehow, still an occult of doom metal, designed to sludge and carry the weight of the universe on its shoulders with the said combined.
What makes NSL’s tribulations that more interesting is their sheer modernism, fusing both progressive and post-rock movements into one doom image. “Joshua The Anchor”, begins cordially, but capsizes on doom hooks, that are patterned and aggressive. “The Last Flight Of The Dodo Bird”, is a rhythmical jig that lapses into progressive territory. Soundwise this diversity comes across as modernism, layered on top of a genre aged, suffocated and surely crippling. The level of imagination present deserves recognition, even if it’s not particularly earth-shattering.
NSL’s case in point is their refinement and fat trimming. Rarely is it found that acts so early in their careers, possess the nous to make an excellent debut album sound meeker, in light of a follow-up E.P.
8.5/10 Metal-Mayhem.co.uk
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