The seven-piece (that's right, seven, they're still rockin' the keyboards, electronics, and trombone) Cream Abdul Babar start this off with four tracks of rhythmic and quirky metalcore made rather unusual by the presence of the aforementioned additional instrumentation. There's plenty of shouting and lots of distortion, but things aren't so straightforward. The 6+ minute "Troy:Sailor" is heavier and darker with some intense distorted vocal layering and forceful chord progressions that really stand out. It somehow feels more emotionally draining, and it's an incredible song. "Rose in the Mouth" is also a great piece, more fully integrating the experimental textures into the song and again unleashing some great chord progressions (this time there's more of a focus on droning rhythms), getting damn near catchy in some strange way. The recording isn't bad. It's sort of raw and dry, but everything fits together well. I still think I'd like to hear these guys with a cleaner sound or at least a clearer mix that might let a lot of the subtle details show through, but this sounds decent. The drums sound natural but need a little bit more punch, the bass is back there, the guitars are rugged and effective, and the vocals sound great. The keyboard textures and the trombone aren't always evident, which is a shame, because there are portions where I feel like if they weren't drowned out things would be more interesting. It's not holding them back, I just think a different type of sound could benefit them. Kylesa begins their set of five tracks - "The Curse of Lost Days (Parts I - V)" - with an electronic noise intro before breaking into dismal, sludgy brand of material. There are actually a lot of ambient sort of noise textures here, sometimes with light distortion, breaking in between every track, sometimes alongside other instruments. It's actually a lot different than their other work. They still use various forms of male/female vocals (usually screaming/shouting) and a lot of dense rhythms, but they're branching out. There's a lot of melody in "...Part III", along with a powerful chorus utilizing great dual vocals, though some of the heaviest moments are also in this track, so it's quite varied. "...Part IV" is a lengthy instrumental with some spacey textures and tribal-esque drum patterns alongside some improvisational guitar textures and throbbing bass in the distance. The final track is made up almost entirely of spoken vocals and acoustic guitars - very cool. The production sounds similar to that of Cream Abdul Babar in that it's dry and mixed pretty tightly together, but I feel like it's too thin in Kylesa's case. The bass needs to be more obvious, and everything needs some distinction, as most of the tones and textures tend to blend together. It's not enough of a problem to ruin the songs, but more could be offered. The layout is simple but very cool, using only metallic silver, bright pink, and dirty brown colors over thick, textured matte paper. The visuals are abstract and resemble Rorschach tests, and the lyrics are printed inside in narrow columns with small, tight lettering. Both bands have sort of free flowing lyrics that deal with personal content, Cream Abdul Babar's with a bit more social commentary ("I'm following 12 million fabricated people sitting on the fence like a punchline they're all sleeping in the same room I'm wide awake and still fighting..."), Kylesa's a bit darker ("There are no rules just endless visions of truth solitude surrounds this space left alone but with company the sounds in my head move much faster as this noise is cathartic...). This is a good split, that's for sure, but I'm a little bit disappointed with the Kylesa material. I like that they're experimenting more, and at times to a very successful degree, but something's missing... I can't put my finger on it. But otherwise, this is good stuff.
[At a Loss]
Running time - 35:13, Tracks: 9
[Notable tracks: Troy:Sailor, Rose in the Mouth, The Curse of Lost Days Part III, The Curse of Lost Days Part V]
At a Loss Recordings - http://www.atalossrecordings.com
