Nights Like These "Sunlight at Secondhand"

Last time I heard Nights Like These (which was promptly after finishing my review of their notably boring Victory debut), they were a sludgy, grinding technical metal act. Such is not the case on Sunlight at Secondhand, the follow-up full length that sees the band veering down the path of Neurosis, Mastodon and Baroness.

Nights Like These's music is still centered on lumbering heaviness, but, more often than not, it's delivered in the form of droning, riff-heavy grooves and dense, mid-paced, Southern-tinged sludge. It's a familiar sound, but there's no denying that the totally mammoth riffs deliver through and through, and that the hoarse, screamed vocals do a pretty ideal job of amping up most songs' intensity. The band gives plenty of obvious nods to post-metal acts -- Isis and Cult of Luna, especially -- which helps round out their more expansive, atmospheric side. And when they pick up the tempo for more chaotic and dissonant outbursts, the Mastodon in Nights Like These comes to life.

So there's variety, but nothing terribly distinct. If anything sets Nights Like These apart from their growing number of peers, it's the use of breezy, psychedelic overtones -- textures most similar bands haven't considered. While psychedelics aren't necessarily my thing, theywork in the record's context and, if the band wants to establish an identity, they're one means to that end.

I almost skipped this because I didn't enjoy Nights Like These's debut, but Sunlight at Secondhand is a decent release.

Nights Like These - Black the Sun

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