Band:	Abrams
Album:	Blue City
Style:	Post-metal, Sludge metal, Stoner metal
Release date:	May 24, 2024
A review by:	musclassia

01. Tomorrow
02. Fire Waltz
03. Etherol
04. Lungfish
05. Wasting Time
06. Death Om
07. Turn It Off
08. Narc
09. Crack Aunt
10. Blue City

Between the likes of Wayfarer, Allegaeon, Blood Incantation and Dreadnought, Denver is arguably one of the most exciting metal cities around right now. Abrams are another band from the city that show some adventure in their songwriting, but unlike the names mentioned above, their output is of a decidedly less extreme persuasion, and this is becoming increasingly the case over time.

Blue City is the band’s fifth full album, but while the band’s output has been regularly scheduled across their decade of existence, it’s not been unambitious in its delivery. Reviews of Abrams tend to refer to their sound as one grounded in sludge, but while they’ve clearly had their sludgy moments in the past, especially on 2017’s Morning, I’ve always found their style to draw more from stoner metal, particularly due to its psychedelic tendencies and inherent melodicism. With Blue City, this is arguably more the case than ever, but the record does see other influences seeping into the band’s music, especially those from alternative rock and metal.

The opening few tracks bring their fair share of fuzzy groove and melody, but also quite a lot of energy; “Tomorrow” has a rowdy up-tempo opening before it slides into a slick desert rock bass groove. Abrams bring boisterous energy and effortlessly charismatic riffs to this song, but they also explore the more languid, psychedelic side of stoner rock/metal, incorporating some tasty chilled textures. Much of this description is also applicable to “Fire Waltz”, but “Etherol” dials down the intensity just a smidge, with a laidback warmth to it that takes my mind to early Weedpecker. Together, the trio of songs make for a really strong opening to the album before Abrams venture off into some different directions.

Along with sludge metal, Abrams sometimes get adorned the post-metal label, and while it’s not one I personally would use in more than a few instances, a song like “Lungfish” does place a greater emphasis on tranquil/voluminous sonic exchanges in the vein of post-rock and post-metal, imbuing a real hefty distortion into passages towards its end that contrast with the understated shoegaze-influenced soundscapes crafted by the band earlier on. This is the point in the album where Abrams do temper some of their stoner rock inclination with elements from the world of alternative rock/metal; in “Wasting Time”, grungy distortion is capped with some evocative guitar leads, while the slower “Turn It Off” also balances lighter verse textures with janky, crunching distortion in the chorus.

While listening to the band drive forward with energy in the opening exchanges is very fun, it’s intriguing to see how they exploit slower tempos in the album’s latter stages. “Narc”, perhaps fitting the name, draws principally from stoner/psychedelic music with its fuzzy riffs and hazy guitar textures, but still allows some post- influences to seep in, in a manner not too far from acts such as Somali Yacht Club. For all their melody and tasteful soundscaping, Abrams have some real dense riffs in their locker; Hum are namedropped as an influence in the album’s Bandcamp description, and I can hear some resemblance to their comeback record Inlet.

In my past experiences with Abrams albums, I’ve typically found them to be slightly inconsistent or unremarkable, but I feel that Blue City has seen them move into a higher echelon of songwriting, one in which they find a very good balance between heaviness, hooks and vibes.