Best of 2010

#8 - Questioner - Self-Titled

On to the metal. I mentioned these guys before saying they were the light at the end of the tunnel; a tunnel built by my disappointment with 2010 from a musical as well a more personal perspective. In retrospect that opinion held true. Although the year didn't take the dramatic turn I begged for, it did begin to show promise after I discovered this release. And the discovery of this album made me more aware of BandCamp which I personally think is the future of music marketing and distribution.

Anyway, this album is a good example of what I look for in metal these days, which is music that is difficult to define and manages to tell a story in an original way. After hearing that, someone might just say, "Oh, post-metal, what's the big deal?" but they would be missing the point. Although Questioner could be described as post-metal, they bring their own personality, their own influences to the table. I make the distinction because in the ocean of post-metal, bands will take influence from other post-metal bands and mimic them instead of attempting to find their own identity. It is only the post-metal elite who expand upon the idea of metal; they take basic ideas and techniques and draw them out, driving them somewhere new and original. 

I actually wrote a little description of the sound of this album in a previous post, so out of laziness I'll quote it here:
"Questioner flows organically, but not in the sense that it's warm or comforting, in the sense that it's raw, unassuming, maybe a little rough around the edges. In a world where crystal clear production reigns, Questioner is deliberately muddy, but not to any detriment. The slightly mid-range heavy mix gives every nuance a sort of subtlety, a hint of modesty. The percussion is aggressive and seems to be the leading instrument with the guitar following close behind with a touch of reverb. The second spin is revealing minor tonality, but the resolutions are a little confusing. There's a lot hope in this which means they're taunting the listener with a few temporary resolves into the relative major. This approach gives Questioner a really nice emotional balance having sorrowful intervals resolved by big complex rhythm sections. I hear a bit of death metal, a bit of blasting black coming together in a nice posty blend of metal goodness."