NoYz? – Tinnitus

Sep13

Ever since being introduced to Noyz? years back through their ear grabbing track Happy Hour In A Junkyard, a song persistently played upon the internet shows we were involved with, The RR has been patiently waiting for the first album from the Serbian band. Finally it is here and there is no let down for hopes and anticipation by Tinnitus and its collection of multi-flavoured rock bred tracks.

Formed in 2004, the Belgrade outfit lacked a truly stable period line-up wise and went on a hiatus in 2012. Three years later founder and vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Stevan ‘Sharkey’ Radoičić brought the band back and set about creating that long promised first album. Their sound is a fusion of grunge, hard rock, metal, and punk; a mix embracing unpredictability and prone to ear grabbing hooks and bold enterprise. Inspirations to the band include the likes of Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Metallica, Megadeth, System Of A Down, The Offspring, and Bad Religion; a list giving a good hint to that blend in their music.

Tinnitus opens with Introbytes, a slice of metal infused punk nurtured rock immediately presenting the type of ear catching hooks the band specialises in. Despite its title it is far more than an intro, the predominately instrumental encounter a stomping invitation into the weave of sound, design, and textures shaping the album ahead with the following Pure Fucking Metal Pwnage skilfully exploiting all. The second track’s first breath is thrash like, its second a thicker mix of metallic flavouring before the band’s rock ‘n’ roll instincts emerge in the blossoming song. Sharkey’s vocals are as keen as the sounds around them, the rhythms of drummer Milan Jejina Yeqy a swinging and rousing trespass while the bass of Anja Tvrtković is a heavy throaty lure with the song itself not holding back on the imaginative twists which again provide persistent temptation across the release.

Blow Joe is next up and straight away drums tease and tempt, their beats an infectious coaxing matched by the glorious lure of the bass. Swiftly the guitar casts melodic strokes across their irresistible dark bait before the track opens up a web of hooks and grooves, a hard rock infusion erupting upon the compelling landscape.

Similarly Cold Turkey enters on appetite pleasing bait, bass and guitar entangling around vocals before the track exposes its dirtier grunge nurtured side. Grooves soon expose greater lures in the track as vocals reflect with irritability and angst. Magnetic from start to finish, the track easily hit the spot before Ein Neues Leid steps forward with its classic punk breeding. That in turn gives birth to a broader punk ‘n’’ roll roar lined with grunge and melodic rock enterprise.

The senses became entwined by guitar wires as What You May Call It rises up straight after, infectious dexterity a rich wash in its imaginative tapestry of sound and invention. Again manipulative hooks are freely sprung and greedily devoured, Noyz? sharing their dextrous conjuring of such tempting with ears grabbing unpredictability and keenly echoed in Diarrhea and in turn Dream. The first of the pair is a catchy and swiftly satisfying offering if not quite matching up to those before it for personal tastes whilst its bolder successor bears its Nirvana inspirations proudly before immersing them in Noyz? individuality, one drawing on a palette of rock.

The melodic caresses of Cherished Leader easily seduced, the relatively calm yet fiery song casting its own uncomplicated but potent hooks within melodic metal scenery, while Happy Hour In A Junkyard once more simply hit the spot with greedy accuracy. Once its familiar opening hook leaps forward there was no denying its command, bass and guitar making a potent force within the lively swings of Milan, and once that effortlessly persuasive chorus erupted , old instincts flared. Every band has a moment or a few which is their calling card and this is still easily the one for the Serbian outfit.

With the final trio of the feral punk ‘n’ roll driven, diversely flavoured and sculpted Boy/Girl, the equally untamed hard rock reared Pissoff and another host of an inimitable Noyz? hook in The Gootch leaving ears bursting with satisfaction, Tinnitus is easy to fully recommend.

There are moments which simply stole the passions and others which had us boisterously bouncing so fair to say that from start to finish the long awaited Tinnitus hit the spot.

Wrapped in the great artwork of Anja Tvrtković, Tinnitus is out now and available @ https://noyzband.bandcamp.com/album/tinnitus

https://www.facebook.com/noyzgrunge

Pete RingMaster 07/09/2019

Freighter – The Den

Jul23

If conventions are for flouting and creative borders for escaping then San Francisco trio Freighter are equipped to lead the exodus though on the evidence of the band’s new album, The Den, there are few others which can rival their voracious appetite for both. Across eight ferociously bold atypical tracks, band and release revel in embracing and disfiguring time signatures, previously defined flavours, and anything expectations can conjure to cast a diabolical web of uniqueness which very often escapes the confines of the listener’s imagination.

Formed years back by lifelong friends guitarist/vocalist Travis Andrews and bassist Jason Braatz and subsequently completed by drummer Matt Guggemos, Freighter weave a technical progressive metal confrontation which soon reveals it goes far beyond those confines. 2008 saw the release of their self-titled debut album but then seemingly came an extremely quiet period as members pursued other projects. Five years on and the original pair reunited and began plotting and weaving the band’s next chapter which is now indelibly marked by the release of The Den.

Themed by ”the endless struggle with sleep and the downstream effects of not getting enough of it,” The Den immediately entangles ears and imagination in its ferocious mania through Psychic Reading ’94; the track harassing the senses with guitar and drums as the bass springs its own dissonant welcome. Andrews’ vocals soon join the sonic pestering with matching relish, the song swiftly stamping its authority on attention whilst twisting its creative entrails. Guggemos’ rhythms continue to coerce as they molest, the bass courting the wild turbulence with its own feral rousing of ears and appetite. Within it all though, an untamed sense of order is established but one which still only echoes the brazen uproar erupting from within the band’s imaginative and inventive dissonance.

With barely a breath drawn, Future Duke burst upon the senses next, its barbarous trespass as infectious as it is fearsome as it descends on beleaguered senses. As with the first track, there is a noise punk ferocity and predation to the assault which instantly grabbed approval and only enhanced its grip as melodic and progressive hues blossomed within the, at times, carnal maelstrom of sound and innovation. Glorious and devastating, the outstanding track is only echoed in temptation and striking prowess by Presto Change-O, its challenge immediate, visceral and inescapably stirring as the guitar feverishly burrowed under skin already battered and bruised by contorted rhythms. From that sonic insurgence a delicious melodic teasing adds its own bait, a riveting concoction which only intensifies as the track bares its unmethodical but skilfully woven drama. Even clutch of seconds brings fresh enterprise and incitement, keys and vocal variety adding to the genius outpouring.

Three tracks in and the uniqueness of release and sound is etched on the psyche but imagine a cauldron boiling up the essences of bands such as Cryptopsy, KEN mode, Art Of Burning Water, Sofy Major, and System Of A Down and you have a whiff of the tempest within The Den as epitomised by Hot Car Death Dad next. With its engine finally engaged, the track takes to the sonic highway with a wonderful groove, another essence conjured which niggles at the psyche like a demented puppeteer as heavier rhythmic tones court its persuasion. The ride as you can rightly assume is upon an undulating road of twists and turns, each an adventure in its own right and all adding up to a nightmarish road trip of enthralling misshapen adventure.

Stick Around And Do It Right Until You Get It Perfect shares its brief esurient proposal straight after, springing forward unscrupulous and eventfully unpredictable antics woven together to create another major and seriously compelling moment within the album. Perpetually rabid but equally, at certain times, just calmly mesmeric, the song seduced as it devoured with again within The Den every second bringing an unpredictability and virulent tempting which just consumed the passions before King Pigeon stamped its authority on ears and appetite. Its continuously ruthless attack courtesy of Guggemos initially belies the jazz bred ingredients in waiting; their eventual animation soon beleaguered by the tide of infernal sound led by Braatz’s ever eagerly consumed and rousing gnarly basslines. To be honest as with all tracks we can only give a glimpse of the real invention of the imaginative incidents let alone the striking craft aligned to psychotic songwriting within songs but as proven once more the real fun is in the physical discovery anyway.

Talking of unbalanced and unstable, both apply to the ferocious might and wonder of the glorious Harbor Of Dieppe, a track which simply assaulted as it lustfully ignited a similarly tenacious imagination, and the album closing exploits of the salaciously flirtatious Cimitero. Both tracks fascinated as they burrowed under the skin, the latter a tantalising cacophonous waltz cast in beauty and discord with its predecessor the kind of incessant examining and dismembering of the senses so simple to drool over.

Fair to say we consumed and doted on every second of The Den with increasingly open lust listen by listen It may have taken an age for Freighter to return with a second album but its might will have all fans caring little and though it could be too early to suggest the main best album contenders for the year but there is no doubt this ravenous treat will majorly figure here and beyond.

The Den is out now @ https://freighter.bandcamp.com/album/the-den

https://www.freighterband.com/ https://www.facebook.com/freighterband/ https://twitter.com/freighterband

Pete RingMaster 23/07/2019

Upanishad – Crossroad

Mar22

Its press release calls Crossroad, the debut album from Italian outfit Upanishad, “…a trip, an adventure, physical and dreamlike.” It has also been a journey for the band to reach the point of its release and a collection of ups and downs with experiences which have undoubtedly gone into one fascinating, captivating, and refreshingly imaginative encounter.

Hailing from Florence, Upanishad began in 2000 and quickly began breeding their own unique sound from a blend of rock, punk and indie flavours. The following decade saw a first EP which sparked attention and opportunities, departures and additions to the band’s line-up, and live success leading to greater moments and chances. The departure of members in 2010 as the band prepared work on a first album saw Upanishad go on hiatus for a couple of years before two of its founders in vocalist/guitarist Vanni Raul Bagaladi and drummer Lapo Zini resurrected the project; bringing in bassist Mirko Bazzocchi to complete the band’s line-up. Quickly writing new songs, the band found, whilst still embracing those earlier hues that their sound was quickly embracing a new and richer as well as broader flavoured character with bold imagination aligned to technical adventure. It is a mix now making their debut full-length one truly fascinating proposal and one which just seems to grow in ears and appetite by the play.

Crossroad opens up with Look At You and instantly had attention on board as the bass of Bazzocchi alone lays down enough intrigue carrying bait to hook any appetite. A sonic swirl gathers in the background as it beckons, eventually sparking a further melodic enticement through the guitar of Bagaladi whose vocals I turn make swift company to the already magnetic incitement. Though slim in body it is a union thick in spicing and tempting which revels in the web of hues making up increasingly and creatively agitated not forgetting irresistible rock ‘n’ roll.

This Room follows and instantly hits its own alluring stroll with unpredictability oozing from every pore, a proposal gaining momentum by the second as the song grows, twists and reveals its mischievous invention. Like a fusion of T-Rex, Pere Ubu, and Mucho Tapioca as psychedelic and progressive imagination collude in rock ambition, the track is a voracious cosmopolitan sounding adventure exploring fresh skies and earths simultaneously.

Quickly establishing itself as one of the album’s truly tantalising moments it is quickly matched by the daring rock ‘n’ roll of Feelings. The band’s latest single, the track launches through ears on gnarly riffs entwined in Red Hot Chili Peppers like funk infused devilry, grooves and hooks spared lusty tenacity across its virulent swing and flirtatious stroll. Again there is a mercurial bent to its boldness, every breath and mania gaining turn soaked in unpredictability and resulting pleasure before Side Effects leads the listener into sultry surf washed climate of sound and atmospheric intimation. The throaty tone of bass ensures a great earthy connection to the loftier exploration as essences reminding of bands such as System Of A Down and 6:33 add to the acceleration of wit, vision and pleasure.

The thought tantalising instrumental Spikes Trap brings its own shadows and mystery to bear next, the technical dexterity of the trio quickly establishing a mental picture for the imagination to conjure with before Connected envelops the senses in its fuzzy sonic smog and melodically fired threads. Though not a track which inflamed as fully as its predecessors, it made for a potent addition to the album’s persuasion which its title track emulated in its sepia coloured storm embraced acoustic serenade.

Across the seductive ears smooching inducement of Parasite and the haunting almost sinister atmospherics of Clouds enthralment with Crossroad was only further cemented; the first of the two alone a lively croon of inventive virulence and emotive attraction impossible to say no to and another peak to the album.

Through the contagion lined canter of The River, a track with a great whisper of XTC to its melodic breath and inventive suggestiveness, album and band unveiled yet another aspect to their sound and quest before leaving No Way Out to close things up. Its opening tease is eighties post punk nurtured, subsequent melodic and harmonic dissonance post rock toned with both flavours embroiled in greater adventure as the song swells with creative initiative and impassioned intensity.

It is a riveting end to an equally engrossing release; a true slab of originality and audacity. Whether Crossroad will take Upanishad to the attention of the biggest and numerous spotlights it deserves to tempt it is impossible to predict but it is easy to say that it is an album which will leave a lasting imprint and joy in those taking the plunge.

Crossroad is available now via Red Cat Records across most online stores.

https://www.facebook.com/Upanishadproject

Pete RingMaster 21/03/2019

Skulk, The Hulking – Afterbirth Of A Nation

Jan8

It is fair to say that 2018 has ended its tenure with some of its biggest highlights release wise among which Afterbirth Of A Nation has to be one of if not the most compelling and enjoyable. The second album from one man project, songwriter and satirist Skulk, The Hulking, the offering is an imagination rousing, ear gripping slab of unique enterprise which had us drooling in no time.

The successor to his 2015 debut album, In Sickness and in Health, the new encounter this time sees Skulk joined by creatively like-minded musicians in guitarist Ashley Levine, drummer Fernando Morales, and bassist Vern Woodhead. In turn this has brought a far broader palette to the bold and adventurous escapade seeded within its predecessor. The band has merged the electronic, hip hop, and punk of that first encounter with the feral and ferocious antics of metal in its varied guises within Afterbirth Of A Nation; the result something akin to a rabid fusion of Dog Fashion Disco, System Of A Down, Five Star Prison Cell, and Agent Orange but distinct in its character and forcibly magnetic incitement.

Afterbirth Of A Nation opens up with Hide Your Children. Straight away sauntering in, the bass begins luring ears with the dark jazzy mystique of the song blossoming alongside. Soon after the unique and captivating tones of Skulk unveil the drama and mischief of his words as the Bauhaus like lure of the encounter boils up into a metal inflamed blaze. Settling back down, new hues and enterprise rise up around the infectious rhythmic stroll and hip hop nurtured vocals; it all making for an irresistible introduction to the release.

It is a resourceful and striking beginning only accentuated by next up He Who Finishes First Is Finished First. Leading with teasing guitar bait, the song swaggers in with eager rhythms and a vocal prowess which just made us want to get involved. It is simultaneously composed yet manic, every second a devious seed and ingredient to an adventure which swiftly got under the skin echoing those earlier mentioned clues to the Skulk, The Hulking adventure.

The track is simply superb and quickly matched by the devilish swing of By Hook Or By Crooked Automatic Assault Rifle. Like a psychotic carousel it swirls in ears, from time to time slowing momentarily to add fresh adventure and revelry around another potent lyrical trespass before scooping up the listener in its carnival-esque hunger.

The darker, predacious presence of Grind (Money Crotch) intimidates as it seduces with its slow swing, bass and guitar portentous in their tempting before its lid is lifted and ferocious discontent spills out. It too is just a moment in the track’s mercurial landscape, a captivating web of sound and vocal enterprise exposed and expanded by the cycle before making way for the tenebrific grumble of Joe Candidate with again Skulk sheer magnetism at its heart. A sombre slow and simple crawl with bursts of carnal irritability, the song just seduced from start to finish, much as the album itself.

Through the mischievous punk inflamed swing of Cancer and the funk ‘n’ jazz saunter of Make It Sew, an already rising addiction to the album was simply escalated, creative devilment and vocal tenacity their inescapable fuel while This Commercialism Sure Means Business… brings an unhinged, indeed certifiable blaze of punk and blues funk tinged rock ‘n’ roll full of derision and tenacity which similarly had us leaping to feet while giving an eager roar.

And the goodness just simply continues; The Proper Way To Fail bringing back the meandering but purposeful amble the band so easily breed to entice and ensnare ears and appetite with. Unapologetically infectious especially within its delicious chorus, the track was manna to the imagination before Add Her All had the same also eating out of its creative rock ‘n’ roll hands and in turn We, The Terrorism enticed physical spasms and attitude soaked vocal involvement in its virulent nonconformist furor.

Afterbirth Of A Nation ends with the unstable temperament and exploits of May It Never End; a loco of sound and boldly resourceful enterprise which left only a hunger for more as it sealed quite simply one of last year’s major highlights and an encounter no one should let slip by.

Afterbirth Of A Nation is out now @ https://skulkthehulking.bandcamp.com/album/afterbirth-of-a-nation

https://www.facebook.com/skulkthehulking/ https://twitter.com/skulkthehulking

Pete RingMaster 04/01/2019

The Lotus Interview

Feb8

The Lotus is a rock band with its roots in Italy but is currently based in Manchester, UK. It is also a creative adventure which embraces an array of flavours and styles in “a visionary and characterful musical journey”. With a new album in the works, we threw a host of questions at the band to discover its beginnings, latest release, what fuels their creativity and more…

Hello and thanks for taking time out to talk with us.

Can you first introduce the band and give us some background to how it all started?

Hi everyone and thank you for interviewing The Lotus. The band started in 2004 when first Rox met Luca: we initially began playing some covers as many kids do but we immediately realised we wanted more and we immediately started working on some ideas and riffs.

That’s how it started really: in 2008 Kristal and Marco joined the band and that was the real start of a professional band as we decided to record and release our first album, which eventually came out in 2011.

Have you been or are involved in other bands? If so has that had any impact on what you are doing now?

Apart from Luca, actually all of us are still playing with many other bands! Mostly metal and rock bands though and I think that always influenced our music in same way.

Rox is playing with Italian prog rockers InnerShine and UK progressive metal band Prospekt, and also with pop folk singer and songwriter named Sukh. Marco is the drummer of two of the most famous Italian metal and rock bands, which are Elvenking and Hell In The Club, and Kristal is the lead singer of melodic death metal band called Lost Resonance Found.

What inspired the band name?

The band’s name was chosen randomly by our first guitarist who was in love with R.E.M.’s song Lotus. We liked it and we realised then, that it was the perfect name for us. A few months later we also found out its meaning of purity and rebirth and we realised that was the name we really wanted.

Was there any specific idea behind the forming of the band and also in what you wanted it and your sound to offer?

As we said before, as soon as we got confident in playing together we immediately started to feel the need of composing our own songs and being rock stars! LOL

Regarding the sound, well, that’s a tricky one: we have never had an established sound or a path we wanted to follow, we just write songs we like and lyrics from experience and feelings we have during our own life.

If you listen to our songs you can really understand there’s something that binds everything which is not the genre.

Since your early days, how would you say your sound has evolved?

We would say we’ve evolved as musicians and composers rather than our music’s evolved. We’re still writing what we want, without any boundary and we love what we’re doing: we’re just better in what and how we play and write!

Has the growth within the band in music, experiment etc. been an organic process or more the band deliberately setting out to try new things?

We always wanted to try new things so actually nothing’s changed since 2004 from this side: probably being mature musicians affected our way to play and compose music and you can probably hear that on our latest releases.

Presumably across the band there is a wide range of inspirations; are there any in particular which have impacted not only on the band’s music but your personal approach and ideas to creating and playing music?

We grew up with completely different music backgrounds and this colourful music palette brought the unique sound we have today. We are big fans of Queen and Muse, as you might have already understood :), but also Pink Floyd, Metallica, System Of A Down, U2, Depeche Mode, or even some heavier stuff like Slipknot.

Is there a particular process to the songwriting within the band?

Normally Rox brings the main ideas and Luca some lyrics inspiration: back to our earlier days we used to mainly compose our songs in the rehearsal room but now, thanks to technology we often produce full demos on the computer.

We actually have to do this way also because Marco and Kristal are living in Italy and rehearsing would be definitely not very much affordable. 🙂

Where do you, more often than not, draw the inspirations to the lyrical side of your songs?

Lyrics are mostly inspired by our everyday experiences and translated into a more poetic and hermetic way.

We talk about love and death, and human life: as we do for our music, we don’t have any limit in our lyrics’ themes as well!

Could you give us some background to your latest release?

We’ve released our latest EP in June 2015 just before we moved to the UK. Its name is Awakening and is actually a mini concept album. It’s an ambient Prog Rock opera which will delve into your inner core.

We are currently producing our new album with Muse early producer Paul Reeve (Showbiz), and we have already released three new singles: Mars-X, Perfect Love and Five Days To Shine. They are very different from our past works, simpler song structures, more melodic but still very ‘creative’. Someone said: ‘If Muse and Deftones met in a pub and had a cheeky couple of Sambucca’s and hit the town and ended the night with a ride on a spaceship, that’s exactly what this song sounds like.’

Give us some insight to the themes and premise behind it and its songs.

Our latest song, Five Days To Shine, is very personal and we think the more you listen to it (or watch the video) the more you understand that. It basically talks about a man who waits for five days to know his fate with his girl. He thinks that’ll be alright but he knows the future isn’t bright.

We made the video representing this man as a kind of ‘creator’, who’s trying everything to restore what he’s lost but eventually he gives up. We filmed it in a stunning place in Manchester called Hulme Hyppodrome.

Are you a band which goes into the studio with songs pretty much in their final state or prefer to develop them as you record?

We used to go into the studio with rough demos and we’ve always struggled to work with limited time. That’s why now we tend to basically go to record with all the songs pretty much finished, so that we can concentrate on instruments’ sound and performances.

Tell us about the live side to the band, presumably the favourite aspect of the band?

We’d define our live shows as heavy metal. Even though our music is mainly rock, The Lotus as a live act is more energetic, more aggressive. I think that’s one of our main strengths. We have played more than 120 shows in our career but we’re definitely looking for doubling it within the next few years!

It is not easy for any new band to make an impact regionally let alone nationally and further afield. How have you found it your neck of the woods?

We are coming from a different background which is in Italy, so we’ve definitely found a more fertile place to keep on growing our seeds.

However, these days it seems more and more difficult to have a solid fan base which follows you everywhere ‘physically’ and not only on social media.

If you’re not convinced on what you’re doing it’s better you choose another job!

Talking of social media, how has the internet impacted on the band to date? Do you see it as something destined to become a negative from a positive as the band grows and hopefully gets increasing success?

We think internet and social media are both good and bad thing.

They really give anyone the opportunity to get out from the anonymity and be the star you always wanted to be, but the problem starts when music is not enough anymore. You really need to let everyone come into your life. Everyone must know who you are, what you are doing, when you are doing it. Even all the pretty small things you want to keep secret; just let them go and share them with everyone. We find this a bit scary but that’s what it is now, so you have to get used to it. And we are getting used to it!

Once again a big thanks for sharing time with us; anything you would like to add or reveal for the readers?

2018 will bring a lot of new things: we will go back to the studio to finish recording the album between March and April. Then we are expecting to release the fourth single as soon as we have everything in its place and the album immediately after that. If you want to be updated on what we’re doing you can visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thelotusofficial or our website www.the-lotus.com . Thank you!

Pete RingMaster 08/02/2018

I, The Betrayer – 7 EP

Jun14

I, the Betrayer might quite likely be a new name to you if outside of Norway but that could very well change and in quick time if the Oslo metallers bring the rich potential of their debut EP to reality. The release is a multi-flavoured proposal with its roots firmly in a thrash/heavy metal bed which just ripples with energy, creative hunger, and imagination. The 7 EP has been garnering plaudit loaded reviews and comments since its release a matter of a few days ago and it does not take too long to hear why.

Formed in 2014, the quintet embrace a host of styles for their ear grabbing sound; the likes of blues and progressive rock entangling with those aforementioned thrash and classic metal flavours as well as darker extreme metal hues. The result is a proposition which has familiarity and originality in collusion within songs which demand rather than ask for attention. Add a vocalist in Chris Wiborg who provides another fine balance of clean and darker tones to match the same union within music skilfully conjured and crafted by the band and you have something which really warrants a close look.

The EP opens with Credulity and instantly surges through ears on a tide of thrash blossomed riffs and thumping rhythms. Wiborg is quickly in the mix with his strong expressive delivery, the riffs and grooves of Geir Prytz and Alex Bjørklund driving and binding the song with infectious energy and enterprise. Across its snarling body, the track hints at more vicious and antagonistic intent but never quite unleashes either though the brooding bassline of Kyle Sevenoaks midway has a predacious edge which hits the spot.

It is a potent start soon eclipsed by the virulent rapacity and character of Selfish Ride. Sensed in the first, the second track brings a stronger Metallica meets Machine Head like tone to its more irritable nature. That attitude is simultaneously tempered and supported by Wiborg, his mixed delivery adding fuel to the fire of the song’s rock ‘n’ roll which in turn is driven by the highly persuasive swinging beats of Terje Høias. As suggested at the beginning about the release, there is something recognisable about the track yet everything about it is equally fresh and magnetic, though it too is overshadowed by its successor as the EP just blossoms to greater heights song by song.

Conformity is next, its opening melodic lure a radiate invitation but courted by a more portentous bassline; both leading into a web of intrigue and vocal temptation. The calm introduction subsequently makes way for a fiery wash of nagging riffs and skittish rhythms, the track twisting and turning like a dervish in between its charge of chugging dexterity and moments of alluring melodic invention. Things only get more appealing once Wiborg adds a Serj Tankian like unpredictability to his presence, the song too teasing with a mercurial System Of A Down like loco.

Things are calm again as Humanity opens up its melodic arms, every melody and bass caress a suggestive moment matched by Wiborg’s great vocals. Across its melancholic yet radiate presence, the track erupts with greater volatility, fire in its belly as emotion and sonic expression flares before slipping back into its mellow reflection with ease. Things get truly heated in time with eagerly tenacious rhythms spearing a weave of progressive drama under a sweltering climate of sound and intensity.

Things begin to follow a pattern now, the calm before the storm once more enticing the listener as the outstanding Creatures Of Hate dances with a sultry gentleness in ears; ensnaring them and the imagination for the darker, almost demonic intent and imagination of its enthralling shadow woven body. The track is hypnotic, its predatory tranquillity a deceit to the dark heart at its core as humanity is exposed. It is also another fresh aspect to the I, The Betrayer sound and invention, its more primal dark metal inclinations managing to take the EP to its darkest place yet its most composed and imperious.

The release is closed up by firstly the growling thrash bred Boaster, a track which like the opener is maybe not the most adventurous but leaves a stronger appetite for the band’s sound and recognition of their skills and lastly Ignorance Pt. 1, an emotive ballad with an underlying dark edge in outlook and sentiment. Though neither quite have the spark of their predecessors, each only adds to the impressive presence and adventure of 7.

Simply out, the EP is a potential rich and increasingly impressive first encounter with I, The Betrayer but more importantly a fiercely enjoyable one. Expect to hear their name and sounds much more from hereon in.

The 7 EP is out now through Darkspawn Records and available @ https://ithebetrayer.bandcamp.com/releases

http://www.ithebetrayer.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ithebetrayerr https://twitter.com/itbmetal

Pete RingMaster 14/06/2017

Zedi Forder – Self Titled

Jun2

Some bands and artists just click with ears and imagination from their introduction and for us one was definitely UK trio Zedi Forder. Maybe it is more accurate to say the creative force behind the band crafted the connection because previous adventures for the duo of vocalist/drummer/primary songwriter Chris Kerley and guitarist Mark Carstairs have equally seriously enticed and stoked the passions. They are also the creators of Tricore, An Entire Legion, and Rind Skank; all distinctly individual bands releasing some of the most exciting and imaginative adventures in recent years though each being sadly missed or ignored by a tide of major attention. Zedi Forder is their latest project, with bassist Richard Tomsett alongside, creating a bold and multi-flavoured mix of alternative metal and voracious rock ‘n’ roll which fuels a self-titled debut album that quite simply deserves greed driven recognition.

In some ways because of previous seductions of our passions, Zedi Forder get a head start in a want, or should that be need, to hear its exploits and an assumption of having some level of appetite for what may be on offer. Equally though, it makes expectations much more demanding and triggers the question of can the band create something unique and fresh enough to be truly new from past endeavours as much as those around them. Many bands or musicians struggle in one guise but across a few it is a rare success. The release of an also self-titled EP in 2015 suggested the Woking hailing outfit could and would, their first album now a striking confirmation going well beyond simply bearing out that proposal though understandably it also gives delicious slithers teasing at earlier explorations which adds to rather than defuses the originality.

The Zedi Forder bio says it is a band with a split personality. “One side is driven by the musical aim of being bold and ever hopeful. The other side is fearless and judgmental, with music that reflects this.” The album certainly reflects this suggestion, its songs, sometimes within themselves, twisting from creatively free-swinging and swashbuckling to imaginatively mischievous on to proposals forceful and emotionally edgy and cutting but all crafted with an instinct for rousing sounds, manipulative rhythms, and daring diversity.

The album opens up with Killakarta and instantly consumes ears with rapacious riffs and jabbing beats as a bass growl courts a thick wiry groove. Kerley’s distinctive and ever magnetic vocals are soon in the heart of the mix, steering the song’s muscular stroll with expression and flair. That initial groove, carrying a growl far more vocal in the bass of Tomsett, winds around the imagination; it trespass enjoyably toxic and addictively refreshing. A slip into a mellow climate is just as tempting, accentuating the song’s unpredictability before being overwhelmed by a more primal expulsion of sound and intensity, reclaiming its moment as a great jazzy lilt infests the bass.

Seductive and predatory in equal measure, the track is a glorious start to an emprise of imagination and craft backed by the arguably less mercurial Machines though it is no slouch in raising its temperature and dynamics across a persistently eventful body. Kerley’s beats bite as Carstairs’ melodies spin a web of suggestion; his trap of enterprise further ignited by possibly the most virulent and catchy hook lined groove you will hear this year.

Dark Mook is a kaleidoscope of sound and texture, its opening noisy glaze slipping into a funky pop tinged stroll of melody and harmony before grungier flames escape guitars and bass as Kerley consistently croons with his never wavering melodic dexterity before I’m the one offers its own individual tempting for an already aroused and on the brink of lustful appetite. The fourth track also opens with a bracing surge of raw sound but is soon entangling the listener in a flirtatiously earthy bassline with funk in its genes and as quickly catchy vocals and beats with a sense of devilry in their gait. Carstairs’ weave of melodic teasing is a riveting net to get caught up in, ensnaring the senses before things get dirty and feisty though Kerley is still keeping the instinctive catchiness flowing in touch as the track to re-establishes its unbridled virulence. The song is another early pinnacle; an irresistible treat with a great 12 Stone Toddler meets KingBathmat scent to its revelry.

Darker shadows wrap the melodic beauty and volatile turbulence of next up My Moon, the song drawing on electronic tenacity to colour its variable and perpetually alluring atmosphere above a rugged terrain of invention. Across its roar, thoughts pluck at comparisons to the likes of Sick Puppies, Voyager, and Soundgarden; all slightly inaccurate but potent hints to the great track.

The grin loaded Nachoman comes next, the song a compelling tongue in cheek but earnest tease of social commentary. It has voice and hips hooked within its opening Red Hot Chili Peppers smoked swerve and only proceeds to tighten its vice like grip through heavier spices and inventive condiments of sound while Open Wide grabs attention with a bullish tirade of sound before flirtatiously dancing in ears with its Jane’s Addiction like funk metal meets System Of A Down seeded versatility. Melodies and emotions fluctuate in character and intensity across the song, as too vocals and rhythms with the latter an evolving torrent of enticement and aggression.

They love it more is a cyclone of sound and energy within an oasis of reflection and melody, never truly settling but always in control of its volcanic fusion of rock and metal while successor Smooch is a predator of hips and imagination with its boisterous shuffle courted by barbarous rhythms and emerging sonic hostility again spurned on by the spiky beats of Kerley and the irritable tone of Tomsett’s bass. With an infection loaded and at times psychotic groove sharing lures with an inherent catchiness, the track as its predecessor hits the spot dead centre, burrowing deeper with every listen, as quite simply does the album.

The growling Time after time leaves no stone of temptation unturned, its grunge/metal snarl maybe the most creatively untwisted track on the release but as bold and naturally infectious as any others such as the following On the run, a slab of classic metal and heavy rock with a nod to the likes of Zeppelin and Sabbath in its heart infused with the progressive and melody conjuring imagination of Zedi Forder.

Though not the actual final song, Lonely One closes things off with its melodically haunting, sonically searing, and rhythmically imposing blaze which alone shares all you need to know to hear why its creators warrant unbridled attention.

With a bonus quartet of mesmeric acoustic tracks which alone prove why we rate Kerley as a vocalist so much, each also unveiling a new drama and shade to the original’s aspects, the album is manna for body and soul and a real bargain as it seems it is being released as a name your own price download. Covering their first EP we said “it would be rude not to go off and discover its majesty “, for the album substitute ‘rude’ for ‘stupid’ because you will surely not hear anything more gripping and exciting than what Zedi Forder have in lying wait.

The Zedi Forder album is released June 10^th wit pre-ordering available now @ https://tricore.bandcamp.com/album/zedi-forder-the-album-out-10th-june-pre-order-to-get-4-tracks-entire-flame-wiz-album-now

http://www.zediforder.com/ https://www.facebook.com/zediforder/ https://twitter.com/ZediForder

Pete RingMaster 02/06/2017