Here's some heavy hardcore/punk from France in the vein of a more diverse yet less explosive His Hero is Gone. Basically meaning that there are a lot of heavy, textured chord progressions with a good dose of dissonant melody and some forceful vocal shouts, but there are also a lot of extreme tempo changes, clean breaks, etc. It's really an even mix of heavy parts and spacious quiet parts (often driven by the rhythm section), and unlike some other bands whose music references bands like His Hero is Gone, I don't feel that G-77 is particularly unoriginal or anything like that. "Heterrorisme" is shorter and faster than most of the songs. A few awesome changeups really catch you off guard, and those nonstop bass runs are killer. "Republique Academy" drops some really memorable melodies at the end with some nice dual guitar interaction, but it's the closer, "L'Enfer du Decor", that really drives the point home. At well over seven minutes, significantly longer than the other tracks, there's a very nice clean break in the middle with some samples of wind and tons of room for the instruments to breathe. The plodding heaviness is also present more so than anywhere else on the CD, or at least it's more effective for some reason. In keeping with the constant mood twists the track comes to an end with a deep ambient throb and some piano. Fine work, indeed. I like the recording. The drums sound nice and natural, both the guitar and bass tones are often distorted and very textured, and the vocals sound great. The bass presence is awesome. I'd almost say turn that shit up even more to add a greater kick to the face. Let the bass and the guitars fight for the lead role. That's my only suggestion: A little bit more of a full low-end throb would make this stuff a bit crunchier and more hard-hitting. The CD comes in a nice, simple digipack using all high contrast imagery in black, white, and brown. The fonts and textures are clean and interesting, and all of the lyrics are included on the inner flap. But... they're all in French, so I can't offer any insight as to what this band might be about. The final call? I'd say check this out. They can make a short song feel long and a long song feel short, in a good way, and despite similar song structures throughout the record, it still sits nicely at a brief 30 minutes. There's room to grow, but this is a solid disc... and I look forward to hearing more from them down the road, for sure.
[Exutoire]
Running time - 30:05, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Gauche Catho, Republique Academy, L'Enfer du Decor]
Exutoire Records - http://www.exutoirerecords.com
