Review Summary: I highly recommend venturing down this rabbit hole.
A music enthusiast’s job is never done, constantly searching for bands that play your favorite style of music is an endless exercise that will lead you to every edge of the globe, and you’re bound to have some surprises along the way. One such surprise is a four-piece chaotic hardcore band from a fairly unlikely locale, that is Russia. A land where music didn’t exactly flourish under Communist rule and since has been most famous for the disgustingly pop band
t.A.T.u has produced an experimental mathcore band in Follow The White Rabbit that seemingly has an infinite amount of potential and is currently creating some crazy-heavy dissonant metal that fans of extreme music should love.
The album contains six tracks clocking in at about twenty two minutes. Even in this small sample size the music does show a great deal of diversity. Some tracks feature distinct "plots" and climaxes where some stop and go in an instant. The music’s flow, or lack thereof in most cases may be a sign of the lack of cohesiveness in their short debut album, but the album’s more refined tracks are surely a sign of the band’s tremendous potential. The band's noted sounds include: some very interesting free-jazz breakdowns, appreciated vocal variance, and even occasionally spaced-out guitar work that doesn’t try to deafen you.
Vocals are what is to be expected from a heavily hardcore-influenced band. The majority of the vocals are gravely screams that infrequently let up. Other vocal styles would include death growls, a occasional vocal harmony, and electronically distorted vocals that help create a psychedelic affect, usually with the aid of electronic samples. The lyrics are vampish, raw, and powerful - as they should be. Lyrics are in a mixture of Russian and English but their content is nothing outstanding.
The guitar work is pretty darn impressive throughout, as it is highly technical and varies tremendously. Some of the slower work is refreshing and occasionally has a jazz feel as well. The sped-up sequences are damn fast, reminiscent of Chris Arp from
PsyOpus flailing around the fret board. There is plenty of two-hand tapping and open, flail-away riffing so the sounds here will range from a wall of sound to an emergency broadcast system, even within the same track.
Bass tone does unfortunately go unnoticed at times, but a few of the breakdowns do a decent job of showing that it is still there. The bass lines here are also nothing spectacular, as they lack fills and are content with hiding behind some serious guitar shred. Similar to their tourmates
PsyOpus, when the guitars sound like this the bass sometimes takes a backseat. Percussion is above average with its fair share of fills, rolls and an occasional blast beat. It succeeds in showcasing the band's rapidly-changing time signatures, and there is a fair share of rhythmically challenging beats.
Electronic samples and electronically-distorted vocals add another dimension of originality to music that usually takes heavily from their influences. The outros on “Joe Boxer Pt2” and “Lions” add a psychedelic side to the music as well, enhancing the label of "experimental" music.
Some of the band's riffing, vocals, breakdowns, and even percussion sounds very similar to that found in some works by The
Dillinger Escape Plan,
Coalesce,
PsyOpus, and
Converge but there is enough twists, turns, and unique material to keep the music mostly their own. There are few bands that can execute this challenging type of music this well - so it makes for an enjoyable listen regardless.
