Review Summary: Despite all its flaws, Contemporary Noise Pollution does manage to be something more than just noise pollution.
Ear Split is a 4 piece metal band from the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The band is heavily influenced by
Trivium and
As I Lay Dying (or at least was in 2011). This particular release does exhibit that influence in abundance.
Contemporary Noise Pollution is a short E.P with three songs. For better or worse, the weakest song on this release is the opening track. "The Ear Split" is a forgettable rock song with mediocre vocals, borrowed riffs and a decent guitar solo. The majority of the song is carried by a riff which sounds awfully similar to the
Slayer song "Raining Blood". Cheesy lyrics like "We will scream our wrath and you will hear," don't do the song any flavors either. Things, however, take a turn from the second song. "Stay Metal" is a well-crafted song with a brilliant outro section, topped with a crisp guitar solo. The clean vocals are also on point on this song. The lyrics in particular seem much more meaningful than the previous song. Lines like
"Try hearing the message that we say, not just a riff that's hard to play," do convey a strong message. Sometimes I feel that we as listeners, judge music on the basis of technical prowess, more than the actual message it has to offer. The closing track "Doped Drugged Dead" is again a solid track with some amazing lead guitar work in the second half of the song. The clean vocals sadly pull the song back from reaching its full potential. It turns out to be a well-structure metalcore song nonetheless - good interplay between clean and harsh vocals, a neat breakdown, inaudible bass, a strong build-up before the guitar solo, everything checks here. The drums essentially steal the show for
Doped Drugged dead. Whenever the guitar work pushes back to take a breather, the drums step up to keep things interesting.
Overall, despite all its flaws,
Contemporary Noise Pollution does manage to be something more than just
noise pollution. It's a shame therefore, that Ear Split never really capitialised on the promise shown in this E.P.
