When it comes to heavy music, more often than not the music itself is a direct reflection of the lived experiences from those who composed the music. It is no secret whatsoever that metal music is synonymous with the not-so-pretty parts of life; tragedies, grief, political injustices, you name it. It makes perfect sense that out of all the genres of music, this is the one that must bear the weight of things that frustratingly cannot be answered for, no matter how much we want it to be. Not that it is completely unheard of, but it’s certainly less common to have this dark form of music coming from a place of good fun and desire to just create music. Honestly, it is quite refreshing to have some metal music that isn’t always so emotionally devastating from time to time, despite that emotional devastation being incredibly powerful inspiration.
That is where IAN (the band) comes into the picture, a five-piece group of lifelong friends out of East London who somewhat recently decided to band together and turn on the red recording suite light purely for the passion of creating music and nothing else. Taking heavy inspiration from the linear compositions and dense atmosphere of the legendary Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the cinematic ambiance and contrasting cataclysm of riffs ala post metal kings, Amenra and Cult of Luna, IAN prove that they’re a musical force to be reckoned with. Don’t let it slip past you that they’re just doing it for fun (and it most definitely is listening to it!). They’re set to release their debut LP, Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! through independent label, Human Worth, on October 17 and we’re here to give you exclusive access to their first official video as a collective; here is “Fennel”.
Anyways, could you ask for anything more from a new post metal project than having something sound like an amalgam of the aforementioned bands? Throw in some vocals reminiscent to that of LLNN and weeping cello accompaniments and you’re feasting; I most certainly am at least as Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! as a whole captures the essence of all those bands, and then some. “Fennel” itself is more of a direct track, mainly showcasing the bite and onslaught of slow, weighty riffs that IAN has to offer. Also, in case you didn’t believe me in which IAN is all about having fun and not taking yourself seriously, just look at them in the music video all donning green morphsuits and rocking out to some immensely bleak tunes that couldn’t be any further from their obviously intentional appearance.
If you’re like me, IAN was not on your radar, but our lives are all the more better now that has been immediately rectified through this premiere. I say it again as a reminder, but Come On Everybody, Let’s Do Nothing! drops on October 17 and a portion of the pre-order profits will go to charity (Mermaids). So why not kill two birds with one stone and get some tight music through an effective donation. I leave it to you to do the social media dance (Facebook | Instagram | Bandcamp). Cheers!
