Purification

I'll admit that at first, I was a little dismayed when Purification turned out sadly not to be a reunion album from Mastodon drummer Brann Dailor's old tech-death outfit, Lethargy. However, I was pleasantly surprised that this Lethargy turn out to be my fellow countrymen, hailing from the small town of Neath, about 45 minutes from where I live. The band play pretty much straight-up hard rock/ metal. Reference points include Metallica circa 1991 and Alice In Chains, with something of a stoner vibe creeping into the riffs every now and then, particularly on opener Stealth. And it's all very solid, and pretty much any fan of heavy music should find something to enjoy in the thick, meaty riffs (the guitar sound is near-perfect) and pounding drums. The band are certainly skilled at their instruments, the guitar work in particular sounding like the work of far younger, experienced musicians. So upon the first couple of listens, then, there's much to enjoy in Purification. But after a few listens, you start realizing how excruciatingly polite the whole thing is. Sure, you'll nod your head an appropriate amount, and it probably goes down a storm live. The thing is, there's very little bravery. Most, if not all of the songs use the same grungy rock stomp which works great in small doses, but over the full length of Purification it begins to get incredibly monotonous, closing ballad Fragile Crystal Dream coming as a much-needed change of pace. And when the songs reach the six minute mark, as does the title track, while staying in the same gear, I defy anyone not to start glancing at the song timer impatiently. The fact that the album feels about twenty minutes longer than it really is doesn't do much to help matters. One of my sticking points with Purification is an odd one, as you almost definitely won't be particularly bothered with it unless you're Welsh yourself, or happen to have knowledge of the music scene in South Wales. That mid-Atlantic vocal style employed on this album seems to be something almost unique to Welsh bands, and I've heard enough local acts to know it's incredibly ubiquitous in Welsh rock bands. And for this exact reason, coupled with the band making an incredibly polite fist of things, the record gives off an unmistakeable whiff of Battle Of The Bands to me. The likes of Lost Adoration or 14:9 are, for me, almost inextricably linked to the sight of a band playing a 15 minute set at a local festival, to moderately enthusiastic applause. I'm aware that's an utterly biased reason to for not liking the album, which will probably be unique to me, so I'm not going to let that affect the quote. I'm aware I've been pretty harsh on Lethargy, and to be honest the problems are mostly on my end. Songs like Stealth and Innocence Serene still hold up as strong pieces of music. The band seem like one built on practice and hard work from what little information I can glean, and so it would be nothing less than curmudgeonly for me not to wish them all the best. So although my own experiences with the local Welsh music scene have left me a little cold to Lethargy, they've got enough catchy songs to deserve at least a shot at the big time (I See Man's End In His Construction could be their Nothing Else Matters). I suppose quoting this is almost irrelevant, as on a subjective level it's a good slab of hard rock, while on an objective level it's pretty difficult for me to stomach. Judge for yourself, I suppose.