The album title and band logo may give off the impression of blackened death metal, and some of the riffs may fit the bill as well, but for the most part this is a frantic metallic hardcore outing coming from the diehard D.I.Y. scene, throwing around all sorts of riffs from chugging midpaced power chords and dissonant tremolo picking runs to sludgy dual guitar licks and contemporary metalcore bursts, all with strained vocal screams or occasional growls. The songs are amply short and I can appreciate a number of their stronger riffs, but for the most part the actual writing style isn't really my thing, and even though the CD is professionally pressed, the recording/appearance definitely feel more like a demo. The recording's listenable, but it's definitely way too raw to really do justice to what they're doing. The bass is pretty much nonexistent, the drums and vocals usually overpower the guitars, and the guitars are dirty and separated so there are a lot of gaps in the mix. I can handle rugged recordings in some instances, but it doesn't make too much sense here, and regardless of what aesthetic they're going for, they need to achieve a greater sense of balance with the mix in the future. Polishing up the guitar tone wouldn't hurt either, as that choppy edge really makes some of the playing sound sloppy. Opener "Set Sail Upon Bastard Winds" is probably the most promising piece, as it opens with a thick, dissonant, moderately paced black metal-esque chord progression that's pretty powerful until it gives way to senseless tremolo picking interspersed with a few intriguing riffs that could be pretty cool were they more prominent rather than five-second afterthoughts. "Split From the Navel to the Jowls" breaks out a couple of hints of classic thrash, and the churning slow break near the end with dissonant lead melodies and subtly melodic basslines is among the finer points of the EP. "A Novel Idea (Read or Die!!!)" also has a nice midpaced discordant passage that's a little too short-lived, but none of these songs are able to win me over from start to finish. The disc basically comes in a xeroxed booklet that's sort of inconsistent in its slapped together arrangements and collaged imagery/text. A bunch of different visual elements and fonts are employed, so even though the cover is actually somewhat effective, the rest just looks too dirty and chaotic for me. They could easily take the inexpensive D.I.Y. road with xeroxes and come up with something a little cleaner and more presentable - even if they want it to retain a certain sense of dirtiness. Despite the inclusion of a recommended reading list (Which I think might actually be "lyrics" to one of the songs!?) and a few hints at socio-political commentary, most of the lyrics are pretty abstract with regard to what they're really pointing towards, which is in some ways nice and in other ways moderately unclear: "Strictly abstaining from contention, painfully apathetic when faced with subversion, As expostulations unravel, we are only left with wasted intentions, Define what was once the focus of youthful exuberance, displaced by the grandeur of convention..." Overlooking some of the periphery shortcomings though, the biggest issue I have here is that the songs definitely sound too similar to one another and too often shift aimlessly from riff to riff without a real sense of cohesion. Most of the speedy death metal sounding riffs do nothing for me, and it's generally the slower passages that tend to harness some real power and potential. So unfortunately, most of this stuff just isn't for me. But if you're interested in this particular niche, the band is selling this EP for a mere $5, and are thoroughly interested in trading with damn near anyone out there who's willing, so get in touch with 'em for more information.
[self-released]
Running time - 14:03, Tracks: 5
[Notable tracks: no single track really stands apart as a whole]
Bohemian Grove - http://www.bohemiangrove.net
