Konkave "Idiocy Mode" CD
[Damaged]
These guys hail from Greece, but honestly this is so fucked up that it sounds more like something that would come from Japan! Musically it's an odd mix of churning, groovy rhythms with a little bit of metalcore and a little bit of subtly sludgy rock/doom, and then some blazing grindcore meets black metal meets quirky thrash or something!? And the vocals!? Completely indecipherable screams. It sounds like he's not even using words, just cackling and screaming random syllables in time with the music. Totally insane... and definitely a key element in the whole "this sounds Japanese" department. There are a lot of different riffs and time changes, with tons of dissonance and a generally chaotic sense of arrangement - the songs range from four to seven minutes but can at times feel much longer. I actually like the unhinged nature of the vocals, I have to admit, it really adds some intensity to the music. The songwriting itself isn't bad, the material can drag a little but for the most part there seems to be a lot of cool stuff going on, it's just that the sound quality might be misrepresenting the actual content. The recording is definitely holding them back, I have to confess. The bass seems to sound alright and you can get a feel for some of the basslines, but the drums aren't resonant enough and kind of get flimsy at times, while the guitar tone has a strange distance to it, so it's not really crunchy or dominant enough to drive the material. There are tons of cool riffs, but the guitar tone loses its punch and a lot of detail ends up getting lost in the shuffle (there's a weird sheen to the guitars that lets tons of pick noise come through). I think the vocals sound pretty good for their style, so I'd just recommend keeping them placed deep in the mix so as not to get too crazy or anything. Overall they just need more of a low-end presence and a balance of textures to get a forceful sound. "Chronic Plague" opens by effectively blending thrashy riffing with straightforward breakdowns for a slightly "catchier" (and almost crossover hardcore sounding) framework that ends up shifting through some dissonantly melodic passages and drawn out instrumental breaks. "Chocolate Bars" has a trippy sort of spacey intro with lots of random noises and textures that I'm not really finding necessary, not that the song title isn't weird enough on its own, but what can you do? Seven-minute closer "Local and Lovely" adds a little more energy to some of the speedier riffing with a nice flare of complexity, and I really think this song has a lot of promise as a whole - it's quite long, but ends up being one of the more fluid and enjoyable compositions (I could really do without the sample from "Blue Velvet" at the end, though). The disc comes in a great looking satin finish digipack with full color artwork that has lots of abstract layers of text and brightly colored imagery. The overall aesthetic of it kind of looks like a techno release or something, but I still enjoy it, despite the fact that it doesn't really connect to the music so much. The lyrics are fairly succinct and kind of abstract, often referencing opposition to religion and such. "Burned for my curses, Blessed for my sins, Devoted in virtuous lies your life is a one way path, Decisions through religious system, Abduction of your rights, Tyrants rise above my fate..." I'm intrigued by this. I'm not blown away, but there's a lot of wild shit on this EP, so I'd love to see them work out the kinks in the studio and get some heavier/clearer sounding songs recorded. There's something worth watching out for here, for sure. (6/10)
Running time - 27:25, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: Chronic Plague, Local and Lovely]
Damaged Productions - http://www.damagedproductions.net

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