Album Review: Colossus – The Breathing World

Frailty within crush – the illusion of impact through dissonance and groove can so quickly be tempered by their integration into a honeycombed network of progressive, exploratory structures. What you end up with is the aural equivalent of a wire brush – thick, harsh lines that mesh to form a shape with more space than solid.

One band that falls into this category are Colossus. Striking moniker, striking sound. Labelling themselves as post-sludge, this Swedish trio have their emphasis very much on the former syllable rather than the latter. In all honesty, there is much more stoner drift in their music than they are willing to admit to. The Breathing World carries on from where their debut, Wake, left off and “follows the protagonist’s crooked journey to clarity in a surreal and mysterious but deeply human world.” Their words, not mine.

It’s actually an album that wobbles, rather than strides, into existence with ‘Yehi Aour / Wanderers’ featuring deep, maudlin guitars, jarringly mirrored by a towering vocal monotone. It soon gathers pace and strength of purpose though, becoming the proverbial rolling stone, shedding moss by the bucketload.

Niklas Eriksson’s vocal has most certainly flourished since Wake and is further assisted here by Tom van Heesch’s (Rammstein, Michael Monroe) meatier production. There is an exciting variation of tone here, and Eriksson experiments by doubling up on the vocals and pulling back from his characteristic top end to explore his full range. At full stretch, when he clutches at his upper register, his delivery does become strained but, conversely, it also provides that unique focal point that separates the band’s sound from the masses.

From ‘Darkling Root’ we are pushed further down their rabbit-hole as the pace rises to become a forceful groove, peaking with the addictive hook that marks out ‘Plumed Serpent’ and the furious cries for “Lib-er-ation!”. Here, they begin to pick up elements of Torche, early-Baroness and little riff affectations that mirror monsters like those of Mastodon and Pelican. They also begin to reveal a certain penchant for subtle post-rock exploration.

The softer souls of ‘Virgin’s Milk’ and ‘The Silent City’, in particular, are riddled with emotion as Eriksson dips down to a whisper to pull out tunes that dig their nails beneath the skin. Elsewhere, the dissolute structure that houses the rich, psychedelic pull of ‘Fuga Mundi’ stands in direct contrast to the uninhibited, roaring waves and menacing undercurrent of ‘Whetstone’.

Fans will inevitably love The Breathing World for its esoteric edge, whilst the less tolerant will struggle to accept such histrionics and yearn for more of their famously empowering groove. Colossus have some way to go to find an easy balance between that frailty and crush. What isn’t in doubt is the fact that this next phase in their development is a bold step up from their debut. Its a magnificently diverse, gloriously colourful, forward-facing, wildly introspective album.

Also online @ HBIH = http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2015/03/27/colossus-the-breathing-world/

Album Review: Lower Than Atlantis – World Record

Working out of Dear Old Blighty, as I do, has its advantages when it comes to getting an early taster of something local and something truly brilliant. Before they get huge, having that opportunity to review early releases and talk about them with bands like Sylosis, The Plight, Savage Messiah, Made No Sense, Twin Atlantic and Malefice has definitely been an honour. Some of those bands, you might not even have heard of yet (tell your friends it was The NewReview who tipped you off), others you will. Occasionally it falls on us to let the rest of the world know what they’re missing out on, and that’s the best part of writing for an American website; arms across the ocean with a worldwide audience listening in. This brings me neatly to Lower Than Atlantis – a band that has got several here at TNR quite excited. Here I hold a copy of their sophomore album which has surprisingly popped up on the battering ram that is Sumerian Records. It’s the follow up to their stunning debut full-length, the niftily-titled Far Q and, if you’re a fan of rock music, I have four little words for you – your new favourite band.

This Hertfordshire quartet have taken the calculating brain of rock, the energetic heart of punk and the shadowy soul of pop to create a monster with rapid-fire rhythms, bruising stop-gaps, heartily melodious vocals and addictively slick riffs. It’s like listening to the genius of early-Biffy Clyro after it’s been welded to the pop hooks of Funeral For A Friend. I can also hear Reuben in this, perhaps with the sunnier side of Lower Definition thrown in for good measure.

There is much in World Record that picks up where Far Q left off, but plenty more that has seen them drop the cheese; step up to the plate; basically “grow up” as vocalist/guitarist Mike Duce puts it. He reveals that “the tunings for most of the songs have dropped two whole steps to add a darker feel.” On top of this, they recorded at Outhouse Studios in Reading with the result being a smoother, less gritty production (their debut was recorded in an office space above a nearby factory). If anything, almost unexpectedly, the end result is an album that leans more towards the pop than the punk, with their mainstream side peeking through on tracks like “High At Five”. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, right? Singles “Beech Like The Tree” and “The Deadliest Catch” are now chunky, crisply hooked and will have you bouncing all over the room, whilst the painfully sincere vocals and attention-grabbing, clean strings of the adjacent “Uni 9mm” and “Another Sad Song” will make you believe you can actually hear the cracks as Duce breaks apart. “Flashback to 1999 / It’s the Summer, not a cloud in the the sky / Present day, things have changed / Summer’s over and it rains here every day” – when lyrics like this are delivered at a snail’s pace, wrapped up in a faltering, croaky regional accent, you can’t help but be ensnared by his story.

Picking at a few stray ends we find, despite the twelve tracks, it’s not the longest of albums. The quirky one and a half minutes of “Marilyn’s Mansion” feels like a bit of filler, and the fiery gang vocals that work so well on “Bug” are overpowering when they turn into woah-ohs for “Could You? Would You?” Hypercritical, yes. But, on the flip side, there are so many little pieces of brilliance – the cute little harmonies on “(Motor) Way Of Life” and “High At Five”, Declan Hart’s throbbing basslines that boil up spectacularly for “Working For The Man By Day, Sticking It To The Man By Night”, the jinking top-end picking on “Beech Like A Tree”, the crystal-clear string-scratching on “The Deadliest Catch” and the barely-disguised spiked punch of “R.O.I.” All these things prove that Lower Than Atlantis have talent by the bucket-load. Their songwriting ability, the immediacy of the delivery, the lightness of touch – I could go on. And, of course, it’s all radio-friendly too, so LTA may soon be impossible to escape even if you wanted to. At the end of the day though, this is all about Mike Duce handing you his heart on a plate. Whether you take it or not depends entirely on you.

Also online (with samples) @ The New Review = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/lower-than-atlantis-world-record

Far Q review = http://johnskibeat.blogspot.com/2010/04/album-review-lower-than-atlantis-far-q.html

Album Review: Deadlock - Bizarro World

Death metal, by its very nature, is rammed full of the most voluble, fearsomely foul vocal content – an attack that is intentionally punishing on the old ear sockets. Naturally, this is usually accompanied by an overdose of distorted atonality and rhythmic artillery, but the newer concept of melodic death, melodeath if you will, has introduced an escape route for those battered lug-holes. Guitars that fission away from the more obvious dissonant chug; percussive patterns that smash holes to enable them to break out, build layers or deconstruct themselves. Recently, a plethora of melodeath bands has applied the same ingenuity to the striking death verbals that define the genre. Suddenly bands are finding multiple vocal styles within a single track and Deadlock, with their pincer maneuver of Johannes Prem and Sabine Scherer (nee Weniger), are fine exponents of the art.

This latest album sees the Germans again delving deep to divide themselves into rampaging, jagged guitar backing Prem’s devilishly macho, grottily-guttural growls, as well as pop rock melodics that rise and fall with Scherer’s soaringly angelic, transparent delivery. In fact, Bizarro World, may well represent the very breaking point where rock splits and runs away (screaming) from metal. No greater is the gap between murk and purity than on “Earthlings” where Prem blurts out a chunk of gunk as the drums falter so hard they slip into partial breakdown. Eventually they dig themselves out of a tight spot with a clunking of gears and a helping shove from Scherer. “Virus Jones” and “Brutal Romance” are other fine examples with the rhythm driving forth with Prem in tow to carve out a murky, brutish rut through to a break in the clouds. Here, the drums lock down to the slow tick of a metronome, the guitars shift up an octave and Scherer flings back the curtains to let in the sunlight of her crystalline vocal.

At times, a change of pace is deliberately implemented to break the album up. “Alienation” and the title-track, for instance, are just gentle underscorings; inflated outpourings; like lines being drawn through the mayhem. In the end, the gesture will feel rather like unnecessary padding. “State Of Decay” and the ballads “You Left Me Dead” and “Paranoia Extravaganza”, however, are welcome additions. They leave Prem with little to add and are mainly vehicles for Scherer’s incredibly emotive, gorgeously silken vocal.

There is much that is kept simple, and to good effect, but occasionally the band slot in a whole heap of intuitive electronica, (“Falling Skywards” and “State Of Decay”) creating another interesting angle for us to view the band from. “Renegade”, however, is a complete mess as it succumbs fully to the e-invasion, rupturing into part-ballad, part-drum n’ bass fireworks display.

Deadlock – it’s so easy to assume their moniker was borne out of decision to agree to disagree over a difference of vision. This does feel like a bit of a stop-start album; an album unsure of what it wants to be. A divided vision or end-product can so often lead to a divided fanbase – an album-by-album demand for more brute or more clarity of vision. It makes for an interesting listen but, of their back catalogue, many will find Bizarro World a tad too clean, lacking in bite, and that’s the camp you’ll find me waving from; no doubt with banner in hand and primeval chant at my lips for “more Prem, more Prem, more Prem”.

Also online @ The NewReview = http://thenewreview.net/reviews/deadlock-bizarro-world