Rebels of the Neon God "s/t" CD
[self-released]
This demo consists of three lengthy tracks of dark post-hardcore type material from Italy, and it's fairly intriguing work. Lots of discordant chord progressions are used with an emphasis on pounding rhythms, they have a good sense of melody, occasional uses of clean guitars pop up amongst some more metallic influences, and the vocals are generally screamed but at times spoken or sung. "God... Forget Me" has some Neurosis-esque passages, as well as a moderately promising break of electronic percussion and textures that, while not fully developed, could be something of worth in the future. The electronic passage really brings to mind a Godflesh remix or something, it's not bad, a bit primitive, but they could really do something with that - my main problem is that it just feels slapped into the middle of the song without that much of a purpose. "Get Her" reminds me of Mindrot in its shifts from burly chords and over the top vocals to eerie clean passages that become mildly repetitive, though the programmed drums towards the latter half are too sudden to really work. While I don't find any of the songs to be boring, I must say that I don't find the eight- to nine-minute running times of the latter two tracks to be totally necessary... especially since both utilize electronics at random intervals that sort of break up the arrangements to a jarring degree. The recording's okay. It needs work, but I can listen to it. The drums and vocals are often distant, and there's a noisy sheen of treble in the mix somewhere, but it's a demo, so I can let that slide. I'd clear things up and give the bass more presence, warming up the drums and guitars to give the music the depth that it really deserves. The layout's all in black and white, with two onecard inserts covering the CD inside a small plastic sleeve. There are some interesting little black and white photos on each side, with plain text listing out the tracklist, contact information, etc. The lyrics aren't included, so I'm not sure what the songs are dealing with, though the subject matter seems personal. There's a ton of potential here, I'm almost tempted to give this a higher rating, but the songwriting needs to be streamlined and focused with a clear intent to really pull this off. There's some great work here, it's just spread out and somewhat jumbled, so the atmosphere is inconsistent. (5/10)
Running time - 20:49, Tracks: 3
[Notable tracks: God... Forget Me]
Rebels of the Neon God - http://www.rebelsoftheneongod.it

This review has been displayed 1189 times.