Bison B.C. - 'Dark Ages'

Bison B.C. takes the blueprint of Quiet Earth and kicks it up several notches on the epic scale.

Static feedback leads into a slow-burning melodic passage, complete with a somber horns section. The slow pace becomes gut-wrenching, as the anticipation for the catastrophic implosion begins. Just as things seem stable, in comes a face-melting riff acidic in tone, signifying the start of a deafening stoner metal journey that Bison B.C. traverses on their third album Dark Ages.

The above paragraph is a brief translation of the first few heart-pumping minutes of opener “Stressed Elephant.” This eight-minute epic, along with much of the album, is a far cry from the linear structure of 2008’s Quiet Earth. Nothing on that album, save for the two-part “Wendigo” series, really clued into what the foursome from Canada has accomplished with Dark Ages. Bison B.C. takes risks they avoided before and cuts out the excess that weighted down their sophomore album.

While there are only seven tracks on Dark Ages, this is the band’s longest album to date, with every song clocking in at over five minutes long. The band seems much more relaxed, showing patience with an extended droning intro on “Melody, This Is For You” and a larger acoustic presence on several tracks. The track listing puts all of the epic songs up front, saving the quicker blasts of stoner metal to the latter half.

This is both to the album’s advantage and disadvantage. While there are many great moments in the early portion of the album, the second half wanders a little too aimlessly. “Die Of Devotion” is most guilty of this, taking almost half of its running length to amass any type of momentum. The band has the melodies and riffs on hand, but seems lost at times trying to make anything memorable out of them. The vocals are also a hindrance; not because they aren’t performed well, but because they lack the bite and vigor of Quiet Earth.

The third part of the “Wendigo” series saves the album from dipping into mediocrity. Another worthy addition to the ever-growing opus that Bison B.C. is in the midst of creating, it accurately represents how the band can go from an emotionally-charged piano/acoustic guitar section to a wicked duel guitar assault in a heartbeat. To end the album with such a majestic number is not only a throwback to their sound on the first few tracks, but a foreshadowing of what could be to come in the future.

Dark Ages is the result of a band still searching for the right direction, but glowing with confidence in doing so. Bison B.C. seems to be more comfortable when the song lengths exceed seven minutes, using the open space to manipulate and contort their sound into something that resembles High On Fire mashed together with a hint of latter-day Neurosis. The band still needs to work on making the shorter tracks sharper, though that will more than likely come with time. Fans of stoner metal will find Dark Ages to be familiar, yet totally captivating.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.