Band:	Bison B.C.
Album:	Quiet Earth
Style:	Sludge metal
Release date:	September 30, 2008
Guest review by:	Doc G.

01. Primal Emptiness Of Outerspace
02. Dark Towers
03. Slow Hand Of Death
04. Wendigo Pt.1 (Quest For Fire)
05. These Are My Dress Clothes
06. Wendigo Pt.2 (Cursed To Roam)
07. Medication
08. Quiet Earth

"Riffs, man. Important love of the riff." - A excerpt from a quote found on Bison's official myspace, lets just say they backed this statement up 100% on their sophomore effort "Quiet Earth".

Anyone who is familiar with Farwell's previous band S.T.R.E.E.T.S can recognize his unique guitar work within seconds of listening - rough and dirty, but still having great hooks around every corner. In some context this album could very well be considered a progressive metal album; going from punk-influenced speed riffs to slow pounding sludge riffs, each transition executed perfectly. Unlike most prog, instead of having jagged, angular time changes, they have incredibly smooth, linear transitions. One second you'll be slow-banging to a crushing doomy riff, then without any extravagant wankery the pace will instantly pick up into some frantic heavy metal. The mixing does justice to the song writing, displaying the band working as a perfect cohesive unit. Laid on top of all of this is the vocals, best described simply as distorted yelling. These types of vocals probably don't seem too appealing, but they work well with this type of music.

There is nothing wrong with the album in and of itself, but one aspect that was done with great care ironically seems to be the main drawback of "Quiet Earth". The songs flow into one another amazingly, almost like pieces of a puzzle, but standing alone they may come across as somewhat weak. In other words, its an album that needs to be listened to from start to finish every time, which can be seen as a good or a bad thing.

"A riff-lovers dream" would be a good way to sum this album up. Highly recommended for fans of dirty, straight-forward, no bullshit guitar work.