N. Tesla – Lux Manifesto

February 20, 2014 • Lost Memories Records

I don't really listen to a lot of Russian metal—it's often either hard to find or not very good. But it's even better when a band recommends themselves to you and then turn out to be really good. And it's even better when they turn out to be really good, as was the case with this album.

N. Tesla is firmly in the classic atmospheric sludge camp (points from me right off the bat), with a sound that wouldn't sound out of place last decade but still doesn't sound dated. The riffs are the sort that are very archetypal for sludge simple—just a few notes, steadfastly chugging along, nothing too technical apart from some great stop-start rhythms—but still manage to be crushingly heavy. I guess simplicity really can be the best thing, when you can do it this effectively. There are also plenty of softer bridges with clean guitars that do a great job of breaking up the music and keep the songs progressing. I get a bit of a Swallow the Ocean or Seven Nautical Miles vibe, which is great as that is still one of my favorite kinds of sludge (too bad they didn't keep up the maritime theme; oh well).

The band definitely brings their own unique flair to the music, though, and they do plenty to shake up the standard. They manage to get a little psychedelic at times with some interesting guitar layering and effects, culminating in the freak-out noise interlude that is "Megalodon". There's even a bit of interesting folk influence, at least in some of the intermediate sections like the first track, along with this neat little jazzy section in "Determination of Giants". Despite it sounding a bit weird written down, it all fuses up and works together very well. These guys really know what they're doing, and they're doing an excellent job at it.

It's not often I say this, but I'm having a really tough time thinking of anything about Lux Manifesto I don't like. If anything, the riff style maybe gets a tiny bit repetitive about two-thirds in, but though some might have a problem with it, I certainly don't; there's definitely enough of other styles on here to keep me listening. It's as if they knew exactly what I like in my sludge metal and tailored this album just to my tastes. Fantastic stuff, and definitely a band I'm going to keep an eye on.