The Bandcamp bio for UK post-rock heavies Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster sounds like they’re tailor-made for metalheads. “Our riffs will hurt you, and our ambience will make you cry.” Their new album The World Inside lives between atmospheres of ethereal solemnity and simmering catharsis. The album releases on August 19th from Post. Recordings on CD and Vinyl. But we have the whole album early for you so you can surrender to these nearly-instrumental expeditions.
Named after a 1940 bridge collapse, the structural integrity of the band’s compositions is admittedly ironic. While the song atmospheres are sobering and serious, there’s a sense of whimsy that propels their sound. Their music slithers as unpredictably as a snake seeking escape. But each track still feels cohesive and controlled. That dichotomy is what makes the progressive leanings of Tacoma Narrows Bridge Disaster so impressive. “Truth Escape Master” recalls Tool at their most pensive, but never becomes nebulous. Whenever passages threaten to lose form, the interplay of the guitars reshapes the album. “Machinations” erupts with weeping-cloud shoegaze. The opening gentleness of the title track is quickly disrupted with a rolling thunder of riffs. While the album is not heavy metal by design, there’s depth to the distortion all the way through closer “Apocryphal.” The dynamics of the album swing so smoothly between tranquility and pulsing-bass urgency that the heaviness sneaks up on you.
Cross treacherous waters with an even more treacherous bridge by pressing play on The World Inside below.