Review: “The Waves Have Teeth” by Floating

Recorded in Uppsala Sweden between 2021 and 2022 by Arvid Sjödin and Andreas Hörmark between Studio Siborator (Gold Spire) and home studios, “The Waves Have Teeth” marks the first endeavour of Floating, a Death Metal band formed from the ashes of Morbid Illusion. Inspired to push boundaries with great admiration for the spirit of bands like Morbus Chron, Imperial Triumphant and Portal, the duo also drew from films such as Through a Glass Darkly, Persona and The Lighthouse seeking to create the grim and barren themes, tone and aesthetic which are said to have shaped the album…

Those with obsessive compulsive disorder need look away now as “These Waves Have Teeth” runs to thirty three minutes and thirty seconds precisely with Floating creating something that quenches a thirst other albums don’t reach. The sound of Cormorants on a cold winter’s morning usher in “The Seep“, an intensely dark and sinister cut laced in Progressive Death Metal riffs with touches of Old School aesthetics. The vocals are intriguing, clean enough that every word is heard, feral enough to sound like the rantings of a homeless man left to go senile. There are moments of meloncholic melodies wrapped up in the cold winds of hopelessness but we are spared a solo on this occasion. Sounding distinctly like a conjoined twin with a similar main riff “Gag” then gives us that solo before a tsunami of percussive battery, the stripped back primitive nature of this beast a forbidden pleasure. It doesn’t sound like the usual basement recordings, which is a welcome surprise but not as surprising as the Post-Punk riffs of “Pile Of Birds“, an Evil that knows no end. What Witchcraft has created something that combines Black Metal and Post-Punk in such a way requires thousands of years of research, but Floating have somehow managed to do it in seamless fashion…

…”No Eyes” continues the boundary pushing to the point that Hikari For The Sky may look upon it with jealous eyes of jade. There are moments which have clear inspiration from bands like The Cure, Killing Joke and perhaps even Tears For Fears within the fabric of this one, the eccletic combinations remaining dark and yet having an almost ethereal quality to them. A warped sense of gallows humour from a pair left alone to their own devices for too long, those bleed through the bandages into “The Hill Will Know Him“, making it abundantly clear that both the album title and band name have been very well chosen. The dark melodies are wrapped in blast beats which carry them like the icy winds, the aching piano adding an other worldly touch that adds a sense of drama. Finishing on a near ten minute magnum opus in “The Floating Horror” is an obvious way to conclude such an offering and yet Floating carry it off with such style and grace that it seems an effortless undertaking. The melodies are haunting, soaked in meloncholic meanderings until a third of the way through when the guitars step up a notch into something with a little more modern Progressive Black Metal swagger. The intricacies of the instrumental make for something that would suit an art house film score perfectly, it’s cyclical patterns and delicate textures cleverly ensuring that the flow is maintained while also giving enough to ensure you remain tided to the chair of captivation [7/10]

Track Listing

1. The Seep
2. Gag
3. Pile of Birds
4. No Eyes
5. The Hill Will Know Him
6. The Floating Horror (Instrumental)

“The Waves Have Teeth” by Floating is out now digitally over at bandcamp. Physical editions are available from 16th December 2022 via Spirit Coffin Publishing here.