October 2022 Feature Release - The Infinite Edition

A new month means the return of my favourite segment here at Metal Academy: featured albums! The selection for October is going to be something new for me as I have never heard from this album or band before. The new album from Denver prgoressive/post-metal band Dreadnought The Endless.

https://metal.academy/releases/39512

I hadn’t encountered Denver-based progressive metal outfit Dreadnought before but I’m very glad I’ve rectified that omission now because their brand new fifth album “The Endless” is one of the best releases I’ve heard in 2022. Dreadnought’s sound sees them combine a progressive take on metal with the tribal drumming & atmospherics of post-metal to wonderful effect & is further highlighted by the angelic female vocals of band leader Kelly Schilling. You can expect to see the band occasionally heading into black metal & some more avant-garde territory at times but Dreadnought are definitely at their best when their attention is focused purely on creating emotionally-charged & deeply moving atmospheres that bring to mind some of Anathema’s mid-to-latter period releases. The 3rd & the Mortal also springs to mind quite often, particularly given the vocal approach & progressive leanings.

On the negative, I have to admit that the first two of the six tracks included here are comfortably the weakest even if they’re still pretty engaging. But my goodness I was in for a surprise after that with three of the remaining four pieces being nothing short of mind-blowing. There’s a transcendental elegance to Dreadnought’s music that appeals to me on the deepest emotional level when they get it right & I can’t imagine how this release isn’t being held in much higher regard. I suspect it’s due to the lack of patience from the modern audience as you really do have to give this album a chance to open up, particularly given the unfortunate way they’ve programmed the tracklisting which I presume was to include some of the more extreme black metal stuff at the start of the album to get people’s attention.

Dreadnought are the perfect example of what the modern metal scene has to offer. They’re fresh & ambitious & have a rare talent for connecting with their audience on an emotional level that allows them to be transported to wonderfully lush & drastically foreign places. They’ve been a real find for me this month & I want to commend Saxy on his feature release nomination because this is what Metal Academy is all about i.e. identifying high quality & interesting releases that offer great appeal but that you’d likely never encounter otherwise.

For fans of Obsidian Kingdom, Kontinuum & Solstafir.

4.5/5

Diving head first into a band that you have no history with is a lot like the optimists view of Pascal's wager. On one hand, if you listen to an album and you do not like it...not a big deal; it's not like anyone else will be talking about it. But if you find find an album that is good or even great, you have the ego trip of getting to show other people this awesome new/underground artist and hopefully help build a following.

Dreadnought are not a new band. They have been around since 2012 and have an impressive library of albums to their name so far. Starting more as a progressive black metal group, the band decided to become more post-metal focused around 2019. And The Endless might be the bands vision fully realized.

I was taken aback at first when the vocals of Kelly Schilling opened up "Worlds Break". They have a cleanliness to them while still sounding brash to fit the more metal soundscapes. And the limited use of harsh vocals make them stand out even more so as if they are the apex moments of intensity and they certainly feel like it!

Of course, these moments are made even more so enjoyable when you consider this albums precision. For an album that only contains six tracks, you may be surprised to learn that this post-metal album does not contain a single track that exceeds ten minutes, and in total clocks in at a brisk forty-one. Dreadnought are not interested in blowing their load on every single track. Songs such as "The Endless" and "Worlds Break" make you wait patiently for some release, while the closer "The Paradigm Mirror" doesn't give you anything at all!

And the songwriting it quite gorgeous as well! I am a sucker for well produced bass line and Dreadnought come through here with a walloping low end that never feels intrusive, but is given artistic independence to the guitars and vocals to beat some well crafted melodies into your head, with "Liminal Veil" being the albums highlight. The use of harmonic dissonance is well masked as well; this record never feels like it's going avant-garde, but you can feel the wooziness from time to time.

I do agree that the front half of this record is not as interesting as the back half. And does fall into the main structural issue that is an unbalanced record. Those opening tracks have a little bit more of the black metal sound of old as a way to lure in older fans of this group, before diverting expectations on the second half. But even then, that divergence is so minuscule in scale considering how much post-metal influence has been left in the first three songs.

The Endless is a marvelous release in the world of post-metal in the 2020s and its a shame that more people won't hear it. Not just because it progressive tendencies will force mainstream metal outlets hand to avoid this record like the plague, but also those metal fans who think heavy=breakdowns and technicality. The Endless is technically sound, but so much more.

9/10

I wanted to get on the hype train after seeing this thread and while it's a beautiful album something isn't quite clicking for me on the first listen. I'll report back after a few more spins.

I think I've spent enough time with this to form some actual opinions. I think this will definitely be an overlooked highlight of most people's 2022 lists due to how uniquely creative it is compared to the rest of the albums released this year. The Endless excels at creating its own little world of elements with the inclusion of more mood-setting keyboards and synths than is common in most Progressive Metal outings, let alone the female vocals taking up almost all of the front stage compared to the Black Metal adjacent harshes that only show up when they're really required to. I think I struggled with this one at first because, in all honesty, it's a pretty low-key record through and through. At just 40 minutes it sometimes feels like the album should be just getting started as the gorgeous closer "The Paradigm Mirror" peters out and ends the affair on a strikingly bittersweet note. It felt like there wasn't a whole lot there and I think that's where my opinion will start to differ a bit from Saxy and Daniel. I'm extremely glad this was featured as it would have definitely been a 2022 album I would have missed, but I don't think it has quite enough going for it to be a massive, landmark release. 

I think my favorite detail about this album is the distinct tone shift between the first and second half. The first sets up the expectation of having angelic vocals offset by the harshes, but "Liminal Veil" throws that completely out the window as vocalist Kelly Shilling adopts a completely different delivery as the album shifts into a more despondent and shadowy feel compared to the more ethereal sounding first half. I think there's a great balance struck between the heavier Post-Metal portions and the winding Progressive Metal musings too; I always leave wanting no more and no less of either style. I would have to do more digging and more listening to figure out an exact reason why, but I just feel like there's something left on the table with The Endless though, which is why it didn't absolutely floor me after spending more time with it. Maybe I'm one of the weird people who think that albums like this should be a bit longer in order to envelope the listener in the world. I'm not sure if I'll have enough time to fully review this one but it'd be a welcome challenge to try and nail down exactly why I can't give this full marks, despite really enjoying it. 

4/5