Well I quite liked it.
Well after eight million bands from Sweden, Finland and Norway we have this from Croatia. I'm happy just to get something from a warmer country because it seems to create a different sound and feeling.
There is a definite 'Tool' sound in there but they aren't actually like 'Tool', there are a few other influences but I don't want to reel off a list of bands because that's too easy and probably wouldn't be accurate. The 'Tool' influence is most strongly heard on the first song with a riff that hooks straight in to the 'Tool' feel. Ok I've said 'Tool' enough, especially as they don't sound like them.
This is a tricky, technical and complicated album, not on first listen but after a while you start to hear lots of different things going on in the mix with rhythms and styles intertwined. This is a long sequence of ideas glued together and they sure aren't scared of trying different things as songs can shoot off into jazz land or just break down to something quirky and unexpected, which is a good thing right?
Well yes and no, at first it breaks up the album a bit so you never settle into a style that fits your ears, then you start to appreciate the work that has obviously gone into it , the songs taken individually are fairly radio friendly while not falling into the obvious stereotypical radio friendly rock tune. Then it wears off and you find it hard to keep your attention on it as the piecemeal style of the album keeps you at arm's length. I'm not saying for a second that this is a bad album and my score will reflect that, I'm just saying that the songs don't necessarily fit together as a cohesive whole.
Well I give in; here are some other band names to help me explain their style, there are bits of Tool which I may have mentioned earlier, can't remember. There's some Deftones and Alice in Chains too to plagiarise the press release. I'd agree with the Deftones one.
It's very well written which isn't something I normally say but you can almost see them putting this together riff by riff and idea by idea, it doesn't sound like something they just made up in the rehearsal room anyway, the production is first rate and while it is a little light for my matt black metal palate, fans of good rock and the chance to have an album that none of their friends will have should track it down.
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