Frantic Bleep "The Sense Apparatus" CD
[The End]
Wow, I'm not familiar with this Norwegian act, but this is another in a fine line of excellent releases from The End Records, and in fact is one of the best from the label in recent times. It's simply impossible to categorize this music. Yes, you could call it progressive metal, or refer to it as avant-garde. Sure, it's diverse and technical material, and you could draw comparisons to Opeth and Madder Mortem, or loose parallels to labelmates Arcturus and Peccatum, to name but a few. But the end result is something all its own, shifting quite frequently, but still coming off as fluid and linear. It all makes sense: Thick chord progressions and distant melodies, flurries of more complex lead bursts, perfectly acceptable accents of keyboards that take the lead on occasion and never disappoint, jazzy passages represented well through both guitar and synth work, and vocals resting largely on singing (rarely showcasing more aggressive styles) that sways from more laidback and basic to emphatic harmonies - at times employing female singing both as lead and backup. All the more impressive considering the band members are all younger than I am, and this is their debut full-length! "...But a Memory" is a bit more straightforward and open than the preceding tracks in its riffing, but still uses strong shifts in dynamics with lots of clean passages and roaming basslines, and of course there's a lot of layering vocally and musically. "Straightforward" is an unusual term to use here though, as the writing is never so over the top that it lacks direction, so in a way there's always an element of straightforwardness present, while at the same time nothing is exactly "straightforward" in that it's all rather creative and walks its own path - it's not verse/chorus material or anything like that. "The Expulsion" jumps from blazing tech metal riffing to lush clean guitars and gorgeous male/female singing, not to mention beautiful sustained notes over chunky power chord rhythms, making for an incredibly varied and effective composition early on in the proceedings. "Mausolos" is much quieter, dominated by synths and whispered vocals, infrequently using clean guitars amongst the orchestral keyboards, acting almost as an interlude of sorts in the middle of the album. This leads into "Curtainraiser", which quickly becomes another of the more openly metallic pieces, even using some blasting beats and yelled vocals for quick spurts, though some excellently sinister singing and guitar work also play large roles. Similarly, "Mandaughter" brings in both singing and snarling, with tons of layered guitar parts that lend the most nods to flat out technical, progressive metal. "Nebulous Termini" maintains the snarling/singing balance in one of the most dynamic tracks, topping six minutes with plenty of stuttered rhythmic jaunts contrasted by nice synths - this is certainly one of the most powerful pieces, and really contains some awesome riffs and transitions. Also notable is that the record plays through without fault in length as well. Whereas many such bands tend to draw things out with long songs or hour-long albums (if not more), Frantic Bleep generally remains in the four- to six-minute range, coming in at a perfect 41 minutes or so in total, maintaining a distinct concentration throughout. Sound-wise everything is quite nice. Minor adjustments could bring even more life to the work, but that's of little concern. The drums are slightly rigid and sort of fall back behind the massive rhythm guitars, and the bass feels left out a little as a result, but the guitars and vocals sound fucking awesome. I think I'd like to hear the low-end inched back on the guitars so that the rhythm section could come forth a little more (in which case the bass might need more definition), but other than that? I'm all for it. The keyboards are mixed perfectly, and everything comes across as fairly clear considering the complexities of the writing. The layout also looks excellent, with the booklet printed in black and white over metallic bronze; with tiny, clean text and lots of medical diagrams very specifically organized and arranged within the booklet - which folds out into a huge nine-panel square insert. The lyrics tend to be rather abstract, some good, some bad, but I'm not bothered. They tend to be creative and I really like some of the ideas. "The winds of Sunday told us where we could find hell, The leaves of October told them that we scrutinized it well..." All in all this is a fantastic debut. I'm thoroughly impressed and already excited about the band's future. There's not one bad song on this entire CD, but if they can reach a point where they're constantly moving at the advanced stages of tracks like "The Expulsion" or "Nebulous Termini"? Watch out. Recommended, for sure. (8/10)
Running time - 41:26, Tracks: 19
[Notable tracks: The Expulsion, Sins of Omission, Mandaughter, Nebulous Termini]
The End Records - http://www.theendrecords.com

This review has been displayed 3744 times.