Planning For Burial - Leaving (Album Review)

 

Planning For Burial - Leaving

(2010)

My copy: 2020 deluxe box set with bonus 10” by Flenser Records.

Thom Wasluck’s debut as Planning For Burial technically released earlier in 2009, though it was swiftly picked up by Enemies List Home Recordings after spreading online, impressing Dan Barrett and Tim Macuga. Wasluck’s approach borrows both from slowcore and black metal, though the actual pacing is focused on repetition and gloomy-but-spiritual ambiance. 

“Wearing Sadness And Regret Upon Our Faces” is a slow, sentimental barrage of distorted crashes, with whispered vocals and sleigh bells clashing against wheezing feedback. There are moments where the structures border on post-rock, though this is more easily attributed to Wasluck’s simplistic songwriting approach. In spite of their basic compositions, the songs on this debut are masterfully layered and balanced, which is impressive considering the general lack of low-end and limited instrumentation. “Memories You’ll Never Feel Again” is an evil, twisted waltz that is made vaguely majestic through regal piano melodies. The black metal screaming of “Oh Pennsylvania, Your Black Clouds Hang Low” pairs nicely with the twisting, distorted guitar chords before the song is reworked into a powerful bout of shoegaze with a delightfully delayed lead riff. 

The drums delay on “Humming Quietly” where contemplative synth and vibrato-touched leads are juxtaposed against the molting distortion of the rhythm guitar. At times it is hard to really qualify the instruments as “rhythmic” per say as they are often left to crackle and ring out into a void of existential dread, as with “We Left Our Bodies To The Earth.” One of the best combinations of harsh and soft tones comes from the snarling guitar and twinkling piano of “Being A Teenager And The Awkwardness Of Backseat Sex,” deeply highlighting the emotional chaos of adolescence, in case the song title wasn’t enough. While many of the keyboard parts are excellently stitched into dark shoegaze and black metal atmospheres, the glockenspiel forever feels like a distracting hanger-on. Wasluck’s vocals also may as well not even exist, as they are either pushed way back or are performed too meekly to feel necessary. 

The strange sludge-rock meets new-wave-melodies vibe of “Seasons Change So Slowly” is messed up by the glockenspiel, but album highlight “Verse/Chorus/Verse” manages to escape into cathartic slowcore rocking relatively unscathed. “Leaving” is a 13-plus minute ambient conclusion - one that is executed well, in spite of its indulgent length. This anniversary box set includes four updated old songs from the Leaving sessions, with only “Sorry For Your Loss” and “Last Song” feeling like worthwhile inclusions. 

Leaving fulfills its niche very well - it is not necessarily a genius example of songwriting or production, but the lo-fi sound and layering do wonders to bolster its boldly depressing mood. Whether Wasluck consciously understood it or not, he is more the purveyor of atmosphere here than a songwriter. Leaving, in its crude but strangely somber lashing-out, is a truly great representation of teenage emotional confusion and turmoil.