Review – Surrounding The Void
Palmer are a post-metal band from Switzerland and this is their third album.
Palmer play contemporary heavy music that takes in elements of metal, sludge, progressive metal, post-metal and post-hardcore into its embrace. These influences manifest in various ways throughout the album, but no matter what Palmer are actually doing at any given time, they always do it very well.
If you take the base sound of a band like Knut and add a bit of Gojira, Minsk, Mastodon and Neurosis into the mix, then you’ll have a good idea of where Palmer are coming from.
Heavy and abrasive sounds form the bulk of the delivery, with more reflective introspection added for greater depth and variety where needed. I’m aware that this description paints far too simplistic a picture of the band’s music though. Each of the songs here has its own personality that’s well-fleshed out, and although you’re aware of their overall sound, you’re never 100% sure what’s coming up next when you listen to the album for the first time.
The band clearly don’t lack for imagination, creativity or ideas, and Surrounding the Void is full of good riffs and engaging song structures because of this. With a variety of moods, speeds and textures explored across the album’s nine tracks, Palmer’s latest release ticks a lot of boxes for an enjoyable, heavy music release.
The album reminds me of something that might have come out of the post-hardcore scene in the early 2000s. It’s got that feel of a band being innovative within their influences and producing music that has a lot to offer the listener.
Very highly recommended.