Kill The Conversation - Farewell For The Last Time
The latest band to attempt ascension in the UK metal scene are Dorchester's Kill The Conversation; a hard-hitting five-piece who are bound to split opinions with their slice of modern metal. Opener and newest single / video Fold starts promisingly enough, equally foreboding and crushing with a nod to some of the excellent post-metal bands the UK has on offer at the moment. This turns out to only be the introduction unfortunately, and what follows is two minutes of the most bland, uninspiring, forgettable metal ever to be farted out into my ears. I understand that the genre has been bloated for a while now and is awash with the good, the bad and the ugly, but if you're going to attempt to stand out from the crowd, this kind of songwriting effort isn't going to do you any favours. Unimaginative and unnecessary breakdowns, overly basic harmonics, and of course the obligatory down-tuned guitars and the constant shifting between high and low vocal growls; you get the picture. Three minutes in, however, and they suddenly raise their own bar with a storming forty five seconds of riff-laden urgency. It's all over too quickly though, and the remainder of the EP largely mirrors the opener.
Not all is lost however, and the diamond in the rough here is No More Fish In The Sea, a glimpse of hope and a glimmer of songwriting prowess perhaps? The first three minutes make up a solid enough slab of melodic death metal, but from there the song unfolds into a powerful climax as vocalist Jack England screams, "The ocean's empty, the sea is dead..." until it lodges itself into my psyche and I find myself repeating the line all evening. Once again however, the impressive becomes the mundane all too quickly with some ridiculously pointless pig squealing, which signals the reversion back to generic-deathcore-ville.
Jack England's vocals are impressive throughout the EP, as is Brad Birchall's drumming; it's just a shame the songwriting doesn't match these levels. In time though, who knows what they could achieve. Kill The Conversation certainly show potential at times, but they've really got their work cut out for them if they want to stand any chance of turning heads in any direction other than the exit. Good luck to them.