Beneath A Steel Sky - Cleave

Beneath A Steel Sky is a post-rock/metal band that was born out of the bleakness and uncertainty of 2020.  They started as an instrumental band but have since evolved into a full ensemble with vocals. “Cleave,” is their full-length debut album. 

I’m a big fan of post-metal because it’s often both dreamy and stormy.  “Cleave,” is an album that I would describe as being those two things but it’s also dynamic with stellar usage of both light and dark tones.  There are a lot of subtle details across the album’s 7 song, 40 minute runtime but the way it flows and just feels like I absorb and experience it, rather than just listening, makes the entire process smooth and very emotional.  

Post-metal isn’t exactly known as the most happy of genres but there is a sense of clarity and hope that is exuded from the pores of the music, even if the core sound itself is dour and tragic.  The clean parts of the music use liminal spaces very well and what isn’t played is just as important as what is.    

I like how the band doesn’t use soundscapes as just filler noise or background music—everything here is needed, is part of the greater whole, and not one second is wasted.  Oftentimes, the quiet parts seem to be a crescendo towards the more metal aspects but, much like life itself, there are many paths the band takes and the music isn’t as simple or straightforward as all that. 

The opening song, “The Sky Above The Port Was The Colour of Television, Turned To A Dead Channel,” is a mouthful of a title but the music speaks of a very serious depth and the perspective of how our eyes can perceive events and things, even in relation to other elements that seemingly don’t go together.

The opening guitar is clean and backed by a melodic but deep bass.  I feel the music is sort of a ripple effect here, each note flowing into the next one as it moves towards the gentle rising of cymbals that precede a heavy drop that weighs about a thousand tons. The heavy vocals are deep and abrasive but intelligible with as much emotion as anything. This is a short song, not even three and a half minutes, but it includes a lot in its time frame, thus acting as both a full song and an introduction to the album. 

“Everyone You’ve Ever Known,” is highlighted by really intricate drumming that dances around the clean tones, both complementing and driving the song.  Once again, the bass is fantastic and around the 1:14 mark, the band melds together as one.  The clean vocals sound a little ghostly and gentle, as much of an instrument as the others.  There is a sense of urgency under this seemingly gentle current and it breaks loose into a cacophony of riffs, heavy handed drumming, thunderous base, and sludged out vocals. 

One of my favorite songs on the album is “The Infinite Silence That Follows The Absolute Truth.”  Learning the truth is a pretty definitive moment in anyone’s life and the song kind of echoes that, at least to me.  The first half of the songs, again at least to me, feels like uncertainty, trepidation, and the desire to find the undiscovered all rolled into one.  Musically, it’s quite expansive and even beautiful but I can definitely sense something else is going on.  Once the song brings out the metal, the truth is known and hits like a ton of bricks.  The intensity from this point on is palpable and that truth, whatever it may be, is here and there isn’t a goddamn thing you can do to stop it. 

“The Becoming,” is a very  musical song with a lot of little nooks and crannies to it.  This one really represents the album to be and is a showcase for how much depth their music has.  You’ll want to listen to this song several times and you’ll find something new each time.  The clean layers sit on top of each other, building a world as the seconds tick by.   The climax of the song feels like the climax for the album as a whole and the pay off is sweltering and rewarding all at once. 

Beneath A Steel Sky’s “Cleave,” is an emotional, arresting album that gently wraps around your heart either before or after it rips out its strings.  This album lives in many worlds and styles with each one being engaging.