The 2018 Arsies: January 19, 2018

January 19, 2018

Emotion	●●●	●●○
Memorability	●●○	●○○
Replayability	●●○	●○○
Innovation	●●○	●●○
Pace	●●○	●●●
Shredding	●●○	●●●
Production	●●○	●●●

Wow: another day, another djenty metalcore contender?
The biggest difference between Veil Of Maya's False Idol and yesterday's surprise winner Northlane is whereas the latter leans back toward metalcore, VOM lean heavily toward full-on djent. It's oddly invigorating to hear a band go post-djent, only to have the irresistable gravity of spastic rhythms and advanced math pull them back down. Sure, the result offers about as much emotional heft as a Star Wars prequel, but there are honest-to-goodness moments of real metal on here.
What Set And Setting seem to offer with Reflectionless is a blend of shoegazey post-rock and doom metal. First impressions evoke comparisons to Explosions In The Sky, Russian Circles, and The Ocean in equal measure. But there's more going on here; the forced meditation typical to sludge and doom is subverted with an almost progressive streak, and the songs here lead down unexpected corridors. Tasteful, emotive, fascinating, and above all heavy, Set And Setting nudge out Veil Of Maya for a win!
This ends our third week, and more or less the halfway mark of this year's Arsies tournament. Monday, we finally finish the first round, with Bison and Junius!