Rebreather "Need Another Seven Astronauts" CD
[Infernal Racket]
These guys kick out five lengthy tracks of powerful sludge/doom metal with a good dose of feeling and dynamics. This is definitely not typical at all. There are actually only two really long songs, most of them are pretty average in length, but then one of 'em runs damn near 14 minutes! There's a little bit of the typical feedback, but what interests me are the quieter passages that ease up on the distortion, the really forceful arrangements with chord progressions that range from plodding and destructive to rocked out and energetic, vocals swaying from aggressive screaming to monotonous singing, and the overall atmosphere of the record... they're definitely working with the same building blocks as a lot of these bands, but they're coming up with far more enjoyable results. It sort of reminds me of a combination of the moderately calm elements of the new Isis record with something along the lines of a heavier, more modern mix of Black Sabbath and Cable... but there's a lot more going on here. The drumming definitely drives a lot of the tracks, even though all of the elements play a fairly even role, something about the simple power of the fluid drumming is definitely noteworthy. The production is great. The guitars are loud and heavy with great texture to the distortion, the drums are full and resonant, there's just enough bass in there, and the vocals rest right in with the music. I would probably up the bass a little bit, but the mix is really clear right now, so you wouldn't want to risk messing that up at all, so... The layout is pretty tight. I liked it better before I realized that breasts play a large part though, because that's sort of lame. The front cover looks great: The imagery is crisp and interesting, the logo is slick, and at first glance you don't realize that the logo spans the chest of a nude woman who's floating through space. Inside there are some images of satellites and tiny band photos, but there are also two close-up shots of the chest area of the woman from the front cover, which is not at all necessary and cheapens the look of the record big time for me. What the hell do breasts have to do with anything here in the first place? The lyrics are very brief passages that seem to connect with one another throughout the five tracks. "Open that door and inhale that life. Adapt to that kick, pushing the lights. How can you stand there watching me bleed? Increase the dose and graft into me." I don't know what else to say other than the fact that I would highly recommend this to fans of the genre. This is definitely very promising material that's tapping into some well needed creativity when it comes to this style. (7/10)
Running time - 33:11, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Earthmover, Pushing the Lights, Inaudible]
Infernal Racket Records - http://www.infernalracket.com

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