Debut from Italian metal group.
The latest band to be signed to V2 records, Dufresne are an Italian group fresh from a UK tour with Dopamine (no, you wouldn't be alone in being unfamiliar with the name) and obviously hoping to build a suitably sized UK fan base. Well based on this alone I'd imagine building that fan base might be something of a struggle.
'Atlantic' consists of eleven tracks, the majority of which are in Italian, so not an obvious step in the direction of wooing the inhabitants of our largely singular speaking country. Really, the language barrier is the least of their worries though, as this is turgid and generic rock/metal at its most tedious. Opener 'Nexiest Luces' sees grinding guitars met with, yep, you guessed it, very anguished vocals which seem to roar themselves along endlessly, despite a running time of less than three minutes. Not the bright start I might have hoped for then really.
The bizarrely titled 'Root is a Flower that Disdain Fame' comes next, and although the vocals have been toned down a little it still reaches a level of awfulness rarely spoken of.
Everything about this album, from its grainy cover image of someone under the sea to its rock/metal by numbers sound can be easily summarised by one little word: BAD. I could write a lengthy critique of each song but there seems little value in that. Each song on this album seems to be racing itself to the finish line, with no obvious pace or development to be seen. To be honest it's difficult to tell or even care if this album is in English or Italian, it makes no real difference, as there's not a decipherable lyric to be found.
Only those who like their metal as generic as it is possible to be should even consider investing in this. If there was any charm on display here I obviously missed it. I'm amazed that V2 saw something promising here, the only possible reason why must be that they can envision sliding Dufresne in alongside numerous other bands of their type and hoping no one will notice the startling lack of originality on display.