Review Summary: Postmortem Promises find themselves falling deeper into a cesspool of clones
Postmortem Promises hail from Essex, United Kingdom. The band has released two EP's prior to this, the first titled
We Play Weddings, on January 9th, 2006. The second EP,
Postmortem Promises was released on October 5th, 2007 via Thirty Days of Night.
On Broken Foundations is Postmortem Promises debut album, the lineup is as follows...
Aaron Ketley - Vocals
Harry Baker - Guitar
Glen Ottley - Guitar
Elliot Stephenson - Bass
Randy McAlonan – Drums
Postmortem Promises again features the vocal work of Aaron Ketley, a man described as having “impeccable range.” With the three year span present between the preceding EP and this release, his vocals have actually improved a great bit. His growls, while not being distinct, are well executed and as a result make the band all the more entertaining to listen to when it comes to the vocal department. The band decides to keep it safe unfortunately when it comes to vocals, sticking to the typical cut-and-paste high-mid-low formula that's been way overdone for years now. While Ketley may not be the best vocalist out there, he gets the job done for the band and has improved a great bit since the EP. Personally I had no idea this was even the same vocalist at first listen.
Postmortem Promises again stick to the chugging found on their self-titled EP and fail to spark any real new interest. The band relies consistently on dissonant feedback and slow-paced chugs for the entire record, though the band does make somewhat of an attempt at changing their generic formula halfway through. For example, the track Self-Righteous features a decent guitar solo and a pretty catchy breakdown with Ketley growling viciously over-top, followed by a mid-tempo chug session. Unfortunately for the listener, these parts are few and far between as Postmortem Promises, as stated before, relies heavily on dissonance and single-note chugs to fill the remainder of the album. Main evidence of this being on the track, On Broken Foundations pt. II. The band, giving them the benefit of the doubt, attempted to be experimental but in turn failed miserably as the track is a single-note chug with an ambient riff played in the distance. While this train-wreck is over within two minutes, it serves no point other than to extend the length of the album.
On Broken Foundations is a step up from the last release, but when compared abroad, Postmortem Promises find themselves falling deeper into a cesspool of clones.
Recommended Tracks:
Self-Righteous
