Having heard a bit about City Of Ships prior to receiving this record, I figured I was in for some pretty standard Isis-inspired melodic dirges, and, brother, that’s a world that I’ve had about my fill of in the past few years. Yet City Of Ships are certainly a pleasant surprise. I’m not going to venture as far as to say that they wouldn’t fit right alongside the scores of NeurIsis biters currently spewing forth from everywhere, but City Of Ships kick up the tempo and melody enough to keep it infinitely more interesting than their legions of “peers.” If you took Oceanic-era Isis or ASTNS-era Neurosis and injected some Young Livers-esque guitar work (note that this record was tracked by Ryan Williams, who has also worked with YLs), maybe a dash of These Arms Are Snakes/Botch quirkiness, you’d be on the right track. Pretty killer stuff. Nice job, fellas.
–Dave William (Sound Study)