Overmars/Fugüe "Our Dreams Walking Their Way - Chapter 3" split CD
[Waiting for an Angel/Cetacean]
Fuck yeah. I really liked the last split CD I heard from Overmars, so I was psyched when this showed up. Overmars (France) begins with three tracks, all more than 10 minutes long, that continue their brand of plodding, destructive mayhem in the vein of early Neurosis meets Cult of Luna, etc. But Overmars is incredibly good at what they do, keeping the atmosphere consistent and injecting a noticeably larger amount of melody into their compositions, not to mention tastefully manipulating synths and noise textures more effectively and clinically than most (see the excellent intro to "Instrumental", fusing ethereal tones with bass loops, orchestral synths, and various other noisy elements). Vocally and in some of the faster rhythms I can even hear some His Hero is Gone, which definitely adds to the punch. The first few minutes of "La Nuit des Masques et la Systématique de ses Lendemains" is even based around a heavy variation on the "Halloween" theme!? Unlike many of these bands, Overmars is able to keep the tempos fairly consistent and moderate without allowing the songs to get boring. Things can sound the same at times, but they're always layering and throwing in subtle shifts that keep it interesting and moving. The recording is cleaner and more powerful this time out. Almost perfect, in fact. The percussion is dry and natural, the bass tone is monolithic even when distorted, the guitars are absolutely menacing in heaviness, the gruff vocal shouts are mixed well, etc. It's very crisp and dense, no detail seems to be lost, and everything forms a tight unit. Very nice. This band is fucking great and should be checked out by all. Next up is Fugüe (Japan) with four tracks (most hovering around seven minutes each) of raw, atmospheric, similarly dark music that shifts from rugged distortion to slightly edgy clean guitars with all sorts of gruff vocals that range from yelling to screaming and speaking or rough singing. Some of their riffs and vocal combinations remind me a hell of a lot of Crowbar, but way more primitive on the recording end (and not in a bad way). They tend to play fairly slow, with lots of drawn out instrumental passages. "Mistral" even uses some piano, and a lot of the clean breaks are a bit eerier. There's definitely a sense of desperation in this work, and it's very promising. I definitely think a smoother recording would up the decimation factor for the band, but they've got a solid sound for what they're doing, and I love the fact that the bass is loud as shit, and the guitars are panned so that a variety of gritty textures surround you in headphones. The CD comes in one of the most insane packages I've ever seen. Everything is printed in black and metallic silver inks, and the outer digipack is glossy, folded in from all four sides with a small tab in the back the holds things shut. Inside is the CD and an enormous poster insert with artwork on one side and lyrics/contact information on the other. All of the artwork consists off abstract designs, sketches, and text arrangement (including lots of Japanese characters), and it looks great. Fugüe doesn't include lyrics, but Overmars includes theirs in both English and French, with explanations of the tracks as well. "My awareness of a decline is the substance of my life, In the cradle of mankind, this feeling of degeneration, Intelligence and thoughts denying a natural order, Because everything is created with its end already included, Our slow rise is an illusion, we can't avoid the fall - death..." This is an awesome split. Overmars comes highly recommended from me, and I'm glad to have been exposed to Fugüe, who could really be onto something. (7/10)
Running time - 57:06, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: all three Overmars tracks are great, Into the Soul, Truth?]
Fugüe - http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar-Piano/5912/

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