Damn, I have to say, it's been harder and harder to expect much from demos these days, but this Italian band is really on target with this, their debut offering, which is an incredibly professional sounding effort that puts forth four tracks of atmospheric metal.? They've got one female vocalist and one male vocalist who do a lot of constant vocal harmonies, so there are definitely going to be loose comparisons made to Lacuna Coil on that level, but musically this is a different beast entirely.? Most of the songs are based around chunky staccato riffing that flirts with unusual time signatures and quirky picking patterns, but for every such borderline basic rhythm progression there are some Death-esque flurries or hints at progressive metal riffing to add color and dimension to the songwriting; and the recording is really heavy, so while melody is present the writing isn't catchy or stripped down in that nature at all.? "From the Stare to the Storm" slows things down a bit and lets the female singing take the lead, while the chord phrasings add some dissonant melody and portions of the drumming add subtle flare to the cymbal work and starts to stand out more on occasion.? When tracks like "Mirror" top seven minutes the songwriting can start to lose some steam and sound like it's running in place (despite the awesome interplay between the guitar and bass parts around five minutes in), so there are some minor hang-ups to attend to in the writing department, but overall the quality level of this demo is very much immediately recognizable. "Hate Create" is probably the most active track, though all of the songs hit on such elements, but the opening riffs seem to possess more movement, and the atmospheric break with clean guitars and synths is a nice touch as well. Also worth noting are the solos, which have a classic metal sort of approach and are definitely on the flashy side to some degree, and I really love that element. I do prefer the female vocals to the male singing, but they work together pretty well so hopefully those elements will progress naturally with time. The vocal harmonies are definitely pretty cool. The recording is absolutely excellent for a demo. The percussion does lack a bit of warmth but is crisp and makes it through, the guitar tone is ultra heavy and crispy, the bass is nice and thick and always plays a role right behind the guitars, and the vocals are nice and smooth - barely in front of the instruments. There's room for minor tweaking to be made, but the core sounds fucking killer as is, and I've heard many a full-length affair from bands that are already signed that can't match the sound quality of this demo. The layout's really not that great but I've seen worse, so I can live with it. I'm also not that taken by the lyrics, which kind of follow that bleak and depressing sort of stripped down personal road that's a little on the goth side or what have you. Again, I've seen worse though, so I'm not really bothered. I'll be stunned if this ground doesn't get signed off of the foundation of this demo. I'm already looking forward to hearing more, this is a very solid offering. Keep an eye out.
[self-released]
Running time - 25:11, Tracks: 4
[Notable tracks: Swept Away, Hate Create]
Chaoswave - http://www.chaoswave.it
