01. The Plutonian Shore
02. Trees
03. A Great Leap In The Dark
04. Grey Waters
05. Red Sun Rising
06. Begotten From Mother Earth
07. Only The Wind Calls Back
08. Forest Of Despair
09. Pillars
10. Fragments Of A Day

Wisconsin, one of the colder parts of the northern United States, has produced an equally frosty and frigid album by young band Arbor. What's not to love? We have doom/black/prog metal with heavy folk leanings yet plenty of melody; screamed, growled, and clean vocals; intense drumming featuring some cold, crisp cymbal work; nice variety in tempos; all topped off with plenty of passion. I started out thinking this would be Agalloch worship but Arbor absolutely found their own voice within a similar mix of styles.

Passion is incredibly obvious in this performance. The excellent, cold atmosphere and mood would have already been present given the instrumentation and solid songwriting, but the musicians themselves brought this album to life and recorded a debut that highly engages the listener throughout. Time just flies - and you can actually smell the Wisconsin wilderness while listening to Arbor.

So the production is crappy and the clean vocals could use a bit of work; it's a debut with growing pains, but seriously, I found myself not caring that much. There are surprises around every corner and the music itself tells a vivid story. That's The Plutonian Shore. And it's a beautiful thing.

These are dedicated musicians who are in it for the love of metal music. Give them some encouragement, maybe even a budget next time, and who knows how far they can go. Put Arbor on your watch list.

Listen to The Plutonian Shore at [url= http://arbor2.bandcamp.com/album/the-plutonian-shore]Bandcamp[/url].