LATE NIGHT VENTURE - Subcosmos

7 songs
48:26 minutes
***** ****
Czar Of Crickets

Bandpage

Danish band Late Night Venture have the habit of always taking a long time to come up with their albums, so that whenever a new one is out, it feels a bit like the return of an old friend. I have had these guys on my radar, before they were even called Late Night Ventures. In the early years of the millennium, they played shoegazed indie dream pop under the name Flying Virgins, and even the first album and first EP as Late Night Venture didn’t stray too much from that sound. In 2012, they started their cosmic trilogy with Pioneers Of Spaceflight, and things took a turn towards post rock. Tychonians from 2015 continues in that direction although it hinted already at a heavier sound. And now they are back with Subcosmos, the concluding chapter of the trilogy, and I have to admit that I didn’t expect such a change in musical direction.

It is the band’s first album on a non-Danish record label, and maybe that’s why they decided that it was time to add some muscle to their music. Late Night Venture are now a fully-fledged post metal band, with artists such as Neurosis, Isis and Cult Of Luna certainly having left some influences. As post metal is currently quite hip, this might be a bit of jumping on the bandwagon, but fortunately Late Night Venture have accumulated many years of experience that allows them to still sound different from other such bands. Although there are also a lot of doom and sludge elements in the music, it’s the varied keyboard work that adds a space rock texture that shoots Subcosmos out of this world. Starting with the opener Far From The Light, a song title that really sets the mood for what is to come, we get a distorted five note glockenspiel melody that is running though the song while heavily distorted guitars and a sluggish rhythm section enter, before the harsh vocals convey the blackest sense of despair. The combination of extreme post metal with trippy synth work is something I haven’t come across a lot in my time, and it is what makes Subcosmos such a rewarding experience from beginning to end. Bloodline continues in that direction, channelling the old spiritual He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, and I must admit these religious undertones give the song an even darker atmosphere, a little like what David Eugene Edwards did with Woven Hand, although in a more metal way. 2630, named after the postal code of the Danish town some of the guys grew up in, is still heavy but comes with deeper vocals, reminding me at times of a freaked out Type O Negative. And the synth melody once again is utterly sublime. Desolate Shelter is at a little over four minutes the shortest track and feels a little like an interlude, before things continue with the title track which again highlights the band’s modern day psychedelic post metal. The album concludes with two longer tracks. The eight minute long No One Fought You and the ten minute long No Burning Ground offer more of the same, by which I don’t mean that the band is repeating itself, but rather that they continue with songs so full of ideas and details that repeated listening will not grow boring any time soon.

At first I was a bit shocked at the band’s new direction, but they have proved that they are quite at ease in their new genre. At a little under fifty minutes, Subcosmos may feel a little short for a post metal album, but that also makes sure that there are no unnecessary parts just to stretch it to the limit, like for instance Cult Of Luna did with their last outpuy. Fans of post metal will be delighted that there are still new facets to unravel in their genre. I wonder where the band will go from here but am sure that it will once again be a pleasant surprise.