Review Summary: An album that shows hardcore can progress and be shaped into something new, it shows Rolo have no boundaries at experimenting with their sound, with no real genre to put behind them, the term 'spazzcore' sums them up best. Classic.
From the moment I recieved my pre-order 4 days early and put this album in my laptop I was staggered at the depth and hard work put into making this album. With having a producer who actually likes there music, thats one step ahead of there last beauty 'Hysterics' already.
'Cosmology' starts off with an amazing intro 'Katzenklavier', it breathes new life into over used synths which are in every band nowadays but by throwing in some chugging guitars it makes it sound on a whole different level, moving straight into 'Agamemnon' we hear Eva Spence's scream what puts every hardcore band's front man to shame some of the most brutal sounds coming from a 20 year old girl who still does what girls do best, being girls.
'House House Casanova' brings back the memories from the amazing untitled Ep they first released, a brutal and unforgiving song only lasting a minute long it swings straight into 'Party Wounds' the bands first single and it's where their talent really starts to shine, putting new light into the outdated hardcore genre we all know. From the soft harmonies of Eva singing "Pull Out Flowers" to quickly James Spence throwing in his vocals for a spectacular finish of "OH MY STARS, SCARS, SCABS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN, HOW CAN THIS BE? JADED BUT SERENE" A lyric what will forever stay in my mind and one I will be screaming at every live gig i see them at.
'Unromance' is where Edward Dutton's drumming shines, with such an incredible drumming start it gets straight into business both Eva and James screaming together before calming down into a sweet soft riff with pleasent synths leading out the song to 'French Motel' a song that truly shows there Spazz side uneven time signatures and instruments playing at different times, it's a strange sound to listen to but also a refreshing one of what Hardcore could be or as I call it 'Spazzcore'.
'Kasia' the song they first started playing live, the song everyone talks about as being the best on the album, it's not far off, infact it could be but they just keep making better songs as the album progresses through at such ease and velocity, with a soft drum intro with James synths yet again kicking straight in softly to build up to Eva howling her lungs to a beautiful riff with James constantly screaming beside her, it's a beautiful sound, which is brutal but also soft to the ears, enough can't be said at Joe Nicholson's guitar, he is a super talented guitarist who i can see having much bigger things ahead in his career, the riff he produces at the beginning 'Sakia' sounds as if it should belong in a speed metal album, but he throws it in with such ease straight off the ending of 'Kasia' it only sounds natural to have it included in this triumphant two parter.
'Tongue-In-Chic' my personal favourite, starting off with a spazztic brutal vocal session from the brother/sister duo with percise drumming, guitaring and the bass pounding away, I wondered to myself "how can they spread this along 5 minutes?" It suddenly stops and goes into this surreal bass solo from Joseph Thorpe, smooth and peaceful, it sounds like this band have the confidence to rule the world one album at a time, then we have possibly the most beautiful sound of the whole album, Eva singing with a guitar riff/solo to shove any well known guitarist today aside and put them in the trash easily, it sound's like there most prominent moment, a ballad for the band, I don't think anyone will disagree, this is their magnum opus afar from the rest of the tracks.
We finally finish with the 7 minute monster 'Cosmology' a track that has similar resemblance to 'Fantasia' on their predecessor, but it's slow, flows perfectly with James Spence putting everything he knows into the synthesizers to make Eva stand out, introducing drums and bass, moving onto the guitar before it finally finishes off with a perfect ending to challange most progressive rock bands.
To me this is an album that shows significant improvement on 'Hysterics' it shows a their old early material and there synth driven later material can be formed together to create one firestorm of an album, this will shake the underground community for a long while, i've felt them, i've seen them 3 times leading up to this record and everytime I hear these songs, i get a shiver knowing that they have so much more up their sleeves yet to come. Kudos to Diplo for taming and producing this monster.
