Unsung #2: Daturah - Reverie

The Grind That Annoys is jumping on the bandwagon of regular posts on underrated records. Hell, why not? Unsung will take a look at those albums, EPs, demos or whatever that are largely overlooked, whether it’s a discarded gem in the catalogues of legends or the finest hour of an underground band with a fan base countable on one hand. This instalment looks at…

Daturah - Reverie

Back in June of last year, German post rock band Daturah announced their split, thus putting an end to any hopes of a follow-up coming to their last album, 2008’s Reverie. It’s a crying shame really; Daturah’s swansong record was a stunning, grandiose piece of instrumental post rock, heavy in both sound and atmosphere.

Opener, ‘Ghost Track’ instigates with a series of odd, almost nonsensical spoken word passages. The topic is physics but several different sound bites have been clipped together to create a mire of voices overlapping each other at various points, making it hard to follow. It sets such an eerie tone only for the absolute avalanche of massive guitars to come crashing in.

Typically, all the tracks are lengthy arrangements and, for some, follow a trusty “post rock formula” – big crescendos preceded and followed by long meandering and hypnotic passages. The band has no fear of exploiting this formula to benefit them greatly. Sure, they didn’t reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly innovative but Reverie is a gripping, captivating album. Five songs but with an hour running time, this record has a lot going on within its vast boundaries. 

The sleek, mellow guitar tones wash over the listener with such beauty while the cavernous, distorted riffs drag you away from serenity into a harrowing space, even if only for a brief moment. The darker moments briefly combat the mostly charming feel to Reverie and it’s this spanner in the works, if you will, that keeps you on your toes.

Closer, ‘Vertex’ is the stunning highlight though. The near 13 minute epic opens so calmly and building so very slowly, scales and scales to that all-important crescendo to pull the curtains on this record.

Supposedly the members of Daturah are all involved in various other projects since their split, but there’s been little or no news on that front since last summer.