Transmission0 "0" CD
[Go-Kart]
This lengthy disc comes from this pounding act hailing from The Netherlands with a sound reminiscent of early Isis, Cult of Luna, and that sort of thing, with long tracks of midpaced to slow heaviness with lots of pulsing rhythms and additional noise textures for added atmosphere. Some of the riffing here gets slightly more openly metallic at times, but in this framework it still comes off as pretty dark and oppressive. I like this a lot, but my biggest problem is that the recording ain't cuttin' it for this style at all. It's way too thin. You can hear everything and there is a lot of density involved, but the guitar tone isn't aggressive enough and there are a lot of gaps in the mix letting force seep away, so the end result is not only a little bit quiet, it's somewhat hollow as well. The drums sound pretty good but still have too much of an up front clicky sound and not enough warm depth, the bass is there and helps add what middleground punch there is, and the vocals and noise sound pretty good. But the guitars are a huge problem for me, because they need much more distortion, much more literal volume, and much more of a spanning presence across the mix to really drive these songs. The lush clean guitars that open up "Vs. Vampire" (which also uses some nice monotone singing vocals) sound pretty damn good with lots of panning effects and more defined basslines, which is where the problem areas of the percussion become most evident, but... I don't know. It's a shame, it sounds decent, and I like the songs, but the overall production values are definitely not working as effectively as the band deserves for what they're putting forth. "San Miguel" breaks out some frantic pull-off riffs that have a little bit more of an indie feel with some off kilter melodies and lot of slower chord progressions that ring through nicely, "The Return" uses more of the same but in an increasingly metallic manner before easing back into some Mindrot-esque clean passages with more singing, "Dust Like Sand" and "Ether" are a bit more laidback and streamlined compared to the other songs, etc. The two heavily electronic instrumentals (which are titled with weird symbols) are totally wasteful though, not only are they pointless, but they're really quite bland and annoying as well. As far as the construction of the songs goes my only complaint would be that things are too inconsistent. For instance, in the aforementioned "The Return", the softer moments are far stronger than the obnoxious intro, so a lot of time is wasted and things don't develop in a linear manner, which makes the 50+ minute disc become a bit tiresome on several levels. It makes sense for these types of songs to routinely hit six minutes or more, I just think the band needs to work a little harder at it. The layout looks pretty good and blends high contrast black and white images of power lines with sketchy skulls and textures in faint brown or blue. The lyrics are brief and pretty open for interpretation, not really hinting at any specific meanings: "So what took you so long? We almost threw away your clothes. Are you ready to return? Or will you stay away. So what will you do? Make a start, make a choice. And have you seen enough? Or will it never end. Searching don't get lost. Surroundings are so big." Not bad, but they're not there yet. More than anything they absolutely must nail down a proper sound that will harness the heaviness of their riffs, the songwriting issues are minimal by comparison, and they're definitely on the right track. (6/10)
Running time - 52:19, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: Journey, Vs. Vampire, Dust Like Sand]
Go-Kart Records - http://www.gokartrecords.com

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