I guess you could call this avant-garde metal from Norway or something of that nature. It's pretty creative and at times technical, fusing metal, jazzy, and progressive influences with a few far quirkier little dashes of strangeness. Female singing takes the lead, usually pretty calm and restrained, at times flying off the hook and wailing/squealing rather obnoxiously, and at times backed by equally varied male singing that can be really calm or shrieked. The riffing is very rhythmic and driven by strong guitar/bass interplay, often layering clean and distorted guitars for more melody. A few of the chunkier and more basic rhythms have a Meshuggah thing going on, whereas the jangly and off kilter clean chords can have a really unusual indie vibe - not common for any form of metal. I love some of the slower melodic leads as they really add a sense of emotion to the songs, but the keyboards are also tactfully handled for this style, rather than being a little cheesy or overbearing. Honestly I think this record could be a little better than it is were the songs slightly more consistent. I love the diversity of it, but some of the wackier stylings clash with the masterful melodies and generally strong vocal performances. "Heartquake" is one of the spacier and more progressive inspired tracks, and I think it's one of the strongest in its laidback tone. "This Vigil" maintains a healthy balance of atmospheres throughout (including some uncharacteristically melodic and almost upbeat chord progressions), and the chorus in "Second Hand Traumas" borders on being catchy in a way. Ironically the longest track, "Pre-sense", stays pretty linear in structure (i.e. not journeying off on any unnecessary tangents), with a mix of great dissonant arpeggios and stuttered rhythmic chord progressions, as well as some abrasive rhythms and droning lead runs with a lot of fucked up panning effects. I have no problems with the recording. Everything is nice and clear despite a good deal of layering, the tones are bright without lacking force, etc. The bass plays a great role just behind the guitars, the percussion has its own natural depth (highlighting some nice fills and cymbal work), and the soaring vocal moments don't overpower at all. The digipack and booklet are covered in strange Bosch-like paintings that have sort of a childlike quality in some ways (to the subject matter, not their appearance), and all of the lyrics are handwritten. It looks great, though admittedly the text can be hard to read through. I have no real opinion on the lyrics, they're certainly a bit strange, but don't really push me one way or the other. My biggest complaint is that some of the best songs herein can wander off into that sort of peculiar territory that lacks the power of their most effective writing sensibilities in their lengthy running times of six minutes or more. Thankfully they never go so far that I really can't take it, but the band is so fucking talented that I can only imagine how great they could be if they reigned in some of the craziness. This is a really cool CD, though. At its best it's absolutely awesome, it's only held back by a stack of minor little discrepancies. Worth checking out, however. I have to give them credit for really creating something that's in a league of its own and will take many, many, many listens to truly digest. I do think I'd like to check out some of their previous work based on this, so... I'm intrigued. Success.
[Code666]
Running time - 51:00, Tracks: 8
[Notable tracks: Heartquake, This Vigil, Pre-sense]
Code666 - http://www.code666.net
