"Caution: persons suffering epilepsy should avoid this recording as it may
induce a reaction" With a warning like this on the back cover, you have
to expect something special from this album
Not many Aussie albums reviewed so I'm going to be patriotic and write a review
of an album that i've been wanting to buy for quite some time.
Aussie metal, like other Australian music, is usually not very well known
except by hardcore fans of whatever genre. Australian music also tends to be
very non-mainstream and this album is no exception.
The album starts with what will be a good indication of what the albums going
to be like and, coincidentally, the best song on the album. Distorted is an
absolutely masterful song with some really nice playing all around and the
double kicks that hammer on for the last minute or so of the song are possibly
the fastest I have heard since Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia. Most of the
playing is immaculate but the odd time changes can get a little unnerving (especially
in Supremacy). The only unfortunate thing about this album is that the songs
tend to sound the same after the fourth track.
Lyrically, the album seems very much inspired by the ideas that Fear Factory were trying to put across. Nik Carpenter gets his point across aggressively
and in true growling style. The production on this album is really good but
if played through very bassy speaker (ie. A Subwoofer) the guitar can be pretty
hard to hear because the bass is very much accentuated, but on that note, this
album also uses a lot of electronic sounds like bass tones that you will need
a decent stereo system to get the most out of.
So if you like your music hard, hammering and intense, you'll get right into
this album and if your an Aussie, get out there and support Australian
Metal.