Standout track Nimh shows the band at their most metallic, with doomy riffs and a forceful vocal performance from frontman Jean Fossat taking things into a similar orbit to the likes of Mastodon or Baroness. It’s a particularly cosmic sort of heaviness, natch, with a mid-song twinkling guitar line reaching into the skies and lyrics about a doomed spaceship. Another highlight comes in the shape of Weavers’ Weft, its hazy sense of smoked-out drift continuing to spill into slabs of crushing heft.
And maybe that’s ILION in a nutshell: exhilaratingly expansive music balanced by a sense of darkness and foreboding, travelling simultaneously into outer space and inner turmoil. SLIFT’s expansive energy and transcendental creativity provide a uniquely rewarding thrill.
Verdict: 4/5
For fans of: King Buffalo, Goat, Ufomammut
ILION is released January 19 via Sub Pop