Old Man Gloom - Why so sad ?

With the success of both Cave In and Isis nowadays, it's surprising that more people aren't talking about Old Man Gloom. Maybe it's because this band does not sound like neither of the two main bands and it is most certainly because most people can only jump on one trend at a time and the time has not come for metallic hardcore with doom and ambiant influences. A band that plays both ambiant songs and very energetic and sometimes very heavy metal songs (with shouted vocals so powerful that it makes most metalcore sound weak, which is the case anyway) on the same record and sometimes in the same song (check out the 21 minute long song Zozobra on Seminar II) should not exist. But thankfully for the rest of us who likes bands who takes risks and who knows when to have fun and when to be serious, well, we have Old Man Gloom and we should praise them. To be truly honest, I am a late comer to the table and I only disovered them with their latest record, Christmas, which came out two years ago. Knowing that Aaron Turner was in the band, I picked up the record for cheap and discovered a whole new world through this band. Not that they did not know about ambiant music or metal hardcore, but Old Man Gloom has a very special way to play with their influences, and therefore, the sum of their influences is greater than each one taked separatly. There is a factor that should never be forgotten with Old Man Gloom, it is that they try anything and everything, as long as it sounds good. For exemple, in the ambiant song "Acordomatic", you can hear some samples of accordeon, an instrument that is generally reserved to old men or people who want to make some money in Paris' subway. Not the kind of instrument you are expecting anywhere near your record collection. But in the context of this song, it sounds great and it makes you wonder why more people aren't doing these kind of experimentations ? Maybe it's because the only expectations these artists have to satisfy is their own, and that is why they evolve while a lot of their peers just stick around to the same formula. Post Hardcore can be very interesting, but if you want to see a band just trying everything and succeed ? Well, try every Old Man Gloom record, especially "Christmas". I seriously doubt you will be disapointed.