Artist: Saence

Artist: Saence

Links: https://www.facebook.com/saence

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Saence is great for the same reasons that Tool goes platinum and wins Grammys. It goes heavy early, retreating to allow for hushed lyricism; meanwhile, the music underlying the relatively quiet vocal delivery is unrelenting in building a stark sense of dread. And then it crashes.

Put it another way. You, the listener, start by drowning in waves of distortion. Moments later, you find yourself miraculously standing in shallow water. But mind the undertow: it's dragging you away. (It was a sand bar -- you were never close to shore.) And now you're buried beneath a mile of murky sea.

Take album-opener, "Sin A Damus." It starts with clean snake-like riffs over tribal drums that ultimately accent plodding distortion chords. But the distortion drops away; and we're left with vocal melody sharing space with minimal guitar flourish. But then the walls of distortion fall. We knew it was coming. Still we celebrate the epic arc.

Remarkable is the incredible vocal power Dean Preacher marshals as Saence overtakes calm with calamity. Whether he's crying out "alone" (at 1:36 of "Blacklights") or imploring "wait" (3:09 of "Overthrown"), Preacher's breathtaking emotion could move the most cynical listener to chills. Preceded as it is by relative quiet, Saence's dynamism recalls that of Tool. (In addition to the similarly-situated "Sober," who can forget Maynard Keenan's lilting processed "Stinkfist" vocal, "But I would not want you / Any other way," being demolished by, "Not enough / I need more / Nothing seems to satisfy.")

Also like Tool, Saence deliberately paces songs with instrumental bridges that serve to build tension. Given this song-writing proficiency, it should come as no surprise that on Secrets of The Lost and Wicked, Saence is exploring various methods for achieving its distinctly heavy sound: "Missionary Position" opens with rumbling bass joined by screaming vocals and clanging guitars reminiscent of Sonic Youth/Lydia Lunch's "Death Valley '69"; "Rearview Demon" starts in with Soundgarden-caliber grunge riffage; and "Blacklight" is snaky riffs not unlike Rolling Stones' "Paint it, Black." When you think of it, what these bands have in common -- Tool, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden and, once upon a time, the Rolling Stones -- is an undercurrent of menace. Add to that list Saence.

Saence is melodic hard rock at its heaviest -- they're a mind-bending powerhouse.

*** The author of this review, Todd Alexander, plays the maktoom for the following band: http://youtu.be/tMS73-1kCr8