Here's some super technical material with a mixture of that whole discordant Dillinger thing and a lot of progressive metal and such happening, as well as some jazz influences and general craziness that meshes surprisingly well, in part thanks to some incredible drumming that seamlessly transitions between different patterns and fills. It's usually equal parts rhythmic chops and note-based runs with a few more improvisational passages on occasion that have a looser and more experimental vibe as far as the guitars are concerned. There's a decent amount of melody involved, as well as some superbly arranged lead runs the likes of which you'll rarely hear these days, but thankfully they the avoid the whole masturbatory showoff shit. The bassist is actually more of a lead player than a rhythm player because the basslines are fucking insane and blaze all over the damn place, often becoming more involved than the guitar parts that they back up. There are a couple of really brief little instrumental interludes that are more in an ambient sort of soundscape style, but for the most part the tracks are actually quite long (six to eight minutes) - the only one of which is boring is "The Sinful Nuns of Saint Valentine", an instrumental that falls back on a lot of typical devices in my opinion. The majority of the time the changes are smooth and there are solid transitions as opposed to a lot of slapping bits and pieces together randomly. And I'm of course all over the Cynic styled riffs and subtle clean guitars in "RM. 237"! I'd say they've got a pretty strong recording, too. In certain areas it could maybe stand for more clarity, but it's certainly not bad at all. I like the density and natural feeling of the drum tones, and everything else is pretty closely knit as well, including the ripping vocal screams (even though the bulk of the EP's focus is on instrumentation). The layout's nice and simple with patterns of leaves scattered about and few colors (mainly shades of black/gray and a light brown). There are some lyrics (I think?) in the center spread, but they're impossible to read because there's almost no contrast between the text and the background textures. A strange decision, but I can live with it since the design is well handled. I'm really stunned that I haven't heard anything about this band before, because this is a great EP that points to a damn curious future for these guys. Fans of the technical side of things had best give this a listen.
[Translation Loss]
Running time - 29:39, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: RM. 237, Distiller]
Translation Loss - http://www.translationloss.com
