Sterling - Cursed

Recently reformed in ’05, Sterling has returned this year with their third album Cursed out on File 13 Records. This time around, guitarist Eric Chaleff and drummer Tony Lazzara are joined by ex-Milemarker member Al Burian on bass and former 90 Day Men member Andy Lansangan playing piano.

As with every record that Sterling has put out so far, I’ve been drawn in by the bands creative use of low-end and drums into their production. From the opening drum kick on the track “Lurker” it sets an immediate mood and sends a warning message that this isn’t post-rock with any sort of light at the end of the tunnel. As fans of Sterling probably already know, the band has been creating and fine tuning their dark and incredibly interesting form of post-rock for a few years now. On their latest album Cursed, they haven’t shied away from that approach at all, if not actually embracing it even more. Scaling things down to just three long tracks, Cursed has production values that will absolutely send shivers down the listener’s spine while listening to it. The drums sound absolutely thunderous behind the rumbling low-end provided by bassist Burian. The combination of it all leaves the album with a consistently effective haunting vibe to it. With every odd twist and turn, Sterling end up covering a lot ground in their songs, covering everything from progressive, classical, metal, and math. All of that while never once retracing their steps, each one of the songs plays out as a unique journey into creative dark landscapes that the members of Sterling have masterfully crafted.

Sterling – Lurker [MP3]

I won’t lie; this album completely caught me unprepared. I honestly didn’t know about it until about a month ago. Sterling seems to work often under the radar and with a slight mysteriousness to them. Regardless, don’t miss out on this album like I did for so long, it’s one of the better things I’ve heard from ’07 thus far. For those interested, the album can be had over at File 13. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up.