Review Summary: Like the meaning of their name, their music is an interwoven fabric of genres, styles and layers, coming together to form a patchwork quilt of pure awesome.
Originality is an interesting concept; the idea of creating something completely new in this day and age is almost impossible, especially in the music industry. The best that any band can hope for is a knack for blending styles and genres together to formulate some new kind of hybrid sound; hence the emergence of the ‘core’ bands. Textures, a metal band from the Netherlands has succeeded in doing just that, blending progressive metal, metalcore, hardcore, math metal and groove metal with a touch of pop sensibility to create a sound that is very much their own. Like the meaning of their name, their music is an interwoven fabric of genres, styles and layers, coming together to form a patchwork quilt of pure awesome. ‘Silhouettes’ is the bands third LP, and it is also their tightest, most cohesive record.
On ‘Silhouettes’ Textures is:
• Jochem Jacobs - Guitar, Backing vocals
• Stef Broks - Drums
• Remko Tielemans - Bass
• Bart Hennephof - Guitar
• Eric Kalsbeek - Vocals
• Richard Rietdijk - Synthesizer
Textures is a band that wears their influences proudly, and it’s not hard to spot them. One can easily point to a specific riff or breakdown and hear the Meshuggah or Strapping Young Lad influence. Vocalist Eric Kalsbeek certainly takes cues from Phil Anselmo, using a similar yelling/scream style, and from Devin Townsend and Mike Patton he borrows a similar croon. Don’t let this fool you though; Textures aren’t simply a clone band, copying all the popular acts and ripping off their styles, it’s more of an influential thing. ‘Silhouettes’ has no trouble standing on its own amidst the thousands of other metal albums on the shelf, and it’s definitely not your average popcorn metal either.
Eric’s vocals, though very similar to other artists are delivered masterfully; his clean singing is beautiful, melodious and perfectly contrasted by his harsh screams/yells. The clean sung sections fit in perfectly, never once feeling out of place or forced; in fact they are one of the best things about Textures. The whole concept of the front man being the main act in a band is admittedly lame, but Eric is a superb showman; his vocals are easily the star here, his range of delivery ranks up there with the best of them.
Musically ‘Silhouettes’ is complex. The band employs a math metal approach with poly rhythmic structures. While not being as complex and mind blowing as a Meshuggah album, they certainly do the trick of offering up an engaging and semi-technical experience. Check out the cool plethora of poly rhythmic riffs on ‘Old Days Born Anew’ and ‘The Sun’s Architect’ and ‘Laments of an Icarus’ (which also features a sweet jazzy drum breakdown about three quarters through). There is also lots of melody to be found on ‘Silhouettes’, many beautiful moments interspersed between the heavy stuff. Check out ‘Messengers’ and ‘Awake’, two tracks that feature predominantly clean vocals, lots of synthesizer and some gorgeous melodies; both tracks sound like something you’d hear on MTV, but better. ‘Storm Warning’ features one of the best melodic breakdowns I have ever heard, but it only lasts for a brief moment.
I really like the guitar sounds used on ‘Silhouettes’; they sound thick and meaty. A well utilized synthesizer adds an essential layer of atmosphere to the album, filling in the holes and rounding out the sound. Easily the most impressive instrumental performance on ‘Silhouettes’ is the drums, which switch through a variety of styles with relative ease. From amazing octopus like fills to a heavy breakdown to random blast beats to an almost jazzy passage, Stef Broks is truly a master of the cans. The most saddening thing about ‘Silhouettes’ would have to be the presence of the bass guitar; where is it? I would think that a progressive band such as Textures would allow their bassist to do more than just follow the guitar, but its a small gripe that hardly takes away from the greatness of this album.
With their recent signing to Nuclear Blast I can only imagine a bright future for these talented musicians. Starting off as a somewhat lame metalcore band Textures have sure come a long way, borrowing influences on their journey to forming their own unique niche in the metal world. With impeccable musicianship, tight, beautifully layered compositions, excellent production, and an amazing vocal performance, 'Silhouettes' is an all around fantastic listening experience.
Check out these tracks: 'Old Days Born Anew', 'The Sun's Architect', 'Storm Warning', 'Messengers', 'Awake', 'Laments of an Icarus'
Highly Recommended.
