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Profane And The Sacred are a stoner/rock/metal band from London, UK.
Although, when I first listened to the album I wasn’t able to tell, as they have a really southern American hint to their style.
The opening track, ‘Bench’, is a brilliant opener with a nice mellow start for an over 8 minute track. That soft start in the track gives you that peaceful feeling, as in you’re led into some sort of false sense of security before you’re smacked across the face with a guitar. Personally I think that Luke Alleson’s vocals have got a Classic Rock hint to them, even though his vocal style is more like a dirtier version of Ryan McCombs (Soil). This song is full off catchy hooks, and even though it is a long track, the variation in it keeps it interesting and leads you effortlessly to the rest of the album.
‘Bleed That Stone’ is the second track and kicks off with a big riff to unseal the rest of the song. This is a dynamic and robust track, with a cataclysmic edge going all around. The pace is very bouncy, as it fluctuates, but yet it still stays lively, and gets bulkier as you get further into the track, which brings it all to a bulky ending to finish off splendidly.
Another track worthy of mention is ‘Weather The Storm’. It brings in a darker motion to the album. When the first couple of chords come in, even though it was for just a brief moment, it reminded me of ‘Your Sweet Six Six Six’ by HIM. It was very similar, but deeper and slower. As this was clearly just the introduction for a 7-minute-plus track, it was nice that it wasn’t started abruptly. The composition of this song is also more hopeful than others here, even though it originally started with a sort of anguished feeling, and with the pace diversity, it definitely executes this beautiful and lengthy track.
‘From The Top’, the fifth track on the album, starts abruptly but exquisitely. It is yet another hefty and vigorous song with some fantastic wallops and rhythms. At around the three-minute mark, there is some admirable guitar work, but is all too short lived. This track shows some seriously amazingly skilful, rhythmic, and engaging musicianship.
‘A New Leaf’ is a track that I feel definitely needs a mention, because even though it’s a soft track that is basically a curtain closer for the album, it still manages to keep hold of the darkness that hangs over the rest of the album. I think this track also brings out how varied the bands’ skill and creativity is. It is a well-balanced and smooth instrumental piece, a delightful way to bring this memorable album to an end.
All in all, I feel that ‘Chapter 1: A Long Time Coming’, hits the right notes for anyone that listens to rock or/and metal and appreciates great musicianship. The whole album flows beautifully and it is of solid composition. One can definitely sense that some of their influences are bands like Down, Clutch and maybe even Karma To Burn. Certainly, after listening to this album many times, I couldn’t pick out a particular track as my favourite, but maybe you can.
Profane And The Sacred are:
Luke Alleeson (Vocals/Guitar)
Rick Spooner (Guitar)
Rob Taylor (Bass)
Keith Smith (Drums)
Review by Cassandra Irving
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