Find out why José Carlos Santos over at Terrorizer picked Encircling Sea as band of the week: It takes not only balls but talent too, to release a one-song album. When it’s a demo, it requires an extra dose of cockiness. Aussies Encircling Sea showed they did have all that, talent included, when they put out their self-released ‘I’, but it didn’t quite work.

However, there was something to it, well hidden as it was. If you’re one of those obstinate types who won’t ever skip a song, even if it’s 50 minutes long and mostly uneventful like ‘I’ is, you’ll understand how I got to the last ten minutes of it where the good stuff was. After 40 minutes or so of slow-developing, post-rockish doom, female vocals show up, moods change, the drums surge forward like a crazed shaman and suddenly it’s like you’re dropped in a more tribal Wolves In The Throne Room moment.

With this glimmer of hope, I kept the name Encircling Sea in the “to follow” list I have in my head, which turned out to be a very good decision. Their first proper album ‘Écru’, released recently through An Out Recordings, takes those last ten minutes of ‘I’ and launches the Melbourne band into another dimension.

Continue reading: JOSÉ’S BAND OF THE WEEK: ENCIRCLING SEA.