Review Summary: an EP that confuses the future, will they become good or horrendous?
2 of 3 thought this review was well writtenIt’s always been a little difficult for Carpathian to harness an identity. Whether it’s 2008 and they’re in love with
Parkway Drive, or it’s 2010 and they’re in love with
Shipwreck A.D. the band often emulate their infatuations almost nonchalantly. Now let us not forget that imitation is the highest form of flattery, especially since it doesn’t hurt that often times Carpathian mirror their obsessions with poise. With their new EP Carpathian emulate a band still struggling to define their own niche in the genre but comprehend how to imitate the characteristics found throughout near flawlessly.
According to Deathwish’s website this is the bands darkest affair to date, while jarringly true it isn’t quite enough to requisite this as anything worth fapping about; mostly due to the fact that Carpathian are still trying to better other bands’ sound. Sure they’ve learned to become heavy,
finally, but this notion seems to come at a cost since they appear only interested in how low their A# chords can go. Essentially this flusters every experience to sound identical which is a shame since had they been able to manage diversifying their sound a couple of the song would be worth the hype. The intro to the title track raises eyebrows, to the point where the rest of the song is worth paying attention to, but once someone notice that they continue the tread the entire fifteen minutes disappointment sets in.
The hardest thing with EP’s is the understanding of whether this is a sign of things to come or an experimental placement. The latter would be rather refreshing as everything in this bands back catalogue is certainly more interesting. But there are still points where the band could evolve upon their ideas. “Monochrome” for example has a perfect bass riff alongside its dissonant nature, but being the only intriguing moment on the disc it’s hard to hope the band will recognize this as their most inherent venture to date. Still, Carpathian offer artifices’ worth the hearing on this EP. Often you’ll mistake them for a more mainstream
Defeater and/or Parkway Drive which probably isn’t possible, but it should be noted they’re mildly better.
