Review Summary: Debut EP from a synth-driven mathcore band hailing from the UK. Overall, this debut is rough around the edges but promises a great future.
This album opens up with Film Noir, a synth driven hardcore chaos with equal parts repeated drives and chaotic beats from some foreign place where time signatures do not apply. Clocking in at just under two minutes, it is short but oh so sweet. This opener sets the tone for the remainder of the album, being some type of combination of styles from Horse. The Band and Dillinger Escape Plan with the caveat of a female lead singer.
Curby opens hard and then transforms into some type of crazy clown/circus organ melody before finally descending into hammer-drum madness. This cycle repeats throughout the song ending in a “circus goes to outer space” motif. It seems appropriate then that the next track is titled “Cirque Du Funk” which to me actually sounds like an eerie funky circus. Using haunting soundscape reminiscent of The Fall of Troy’s Ghostships/Phantoms on The Horizons pieces, the song also goes into longer periods of bass-driven, tuned down tones. Finally, it circles back to the beginning.
The opening of Seagull could be described as a virtual clone of an Atari-esque Horse. The Band song. From there, we see the first display of call and answer dual vocals (in this case brother and sister as well). This merges into a set of heavy lows and ends with a soft melodic outtro. C Is For Calculus is completely different from anything else on the album. The best way I can find to describe this is that it is a 21st Century version of an instrumental Doors song. At just over seven and a half minutes it is a straight-up instrumental jam that displays creativity and technique as well as musicality. It is hard to find someone who doesn’t enjoy this song on first listen.
The Remixes are well… remixes. Track 06 is a pure energy and Nintendo mixed together. Track 07 is more artsy and difficult to listen to.
Overall, this debut is rough around the edges but promises a great future.
