Ride the crest of the new-wave
Labelled by Kerrang as a “three way fight between Placebo, Nine Inch Nails and Jane’s Addiction” Ariel-X had a lot to live up to. But as Bi-Polar opens with its beautiful Built to Spill style guitar, I realise I am more than impressed.
The whole album a cacophony of guitar pedals and articulate drumming and guitar solos. Yes, guitar solos! Not your Steve Vai a million notes per second crap, but well crafted and expertly paced solos which serve the music and not the musician.
Like Jane’s Addiction and the Smashing Pumpkins, Bi-Polar manages to retain a very raw rock sound without sacrificing the melody. And that melody is key here. Rather than having a band of separate musicians, playing separate tracks you really get the impression that each of Ariel-X are aware of the bigger picture. Each one of them a vital component and the songs crafted so that it wouldn’t make sense without any one of them.
I think this is quite an unusual quality; so often we hear bands that are carried by a guitar-god or a superb vocalist. Ariel-X really demonstrate the beauty of the band. This not a battle of 4 egos, but rather the product of 4 guys whose music only exists when they are together. This is a collective that not only compliments, but obviously really enjoy one another.
Bi-Polar is an incredibly apt name for this album. Every song is a blanket of sound in which you, the listener is enveloped. But through that you are carried on extreme highs and lows much like someone who suffers from bi-polar disorder.
So infectious to listen to, this is an album to crank up the volume to. It has a touch of the melancholy about it, but an energy that consistently catapults you from start to finish. At times it is abrasive, but when you juxtapose that with the melodies that bounce on top of it, it’s almost too good to be true.
A real nod to the early nineties and the west coast rock from the States, Ariel-X remind me of Indie-rock and the good music before grunge came and burst the bubble. There is no doubt that those bands have inspired this London quartet. But this is 10 years on, and there’s not really anyone doing this anymore. I hope that Ariel-X explode onto the scene like they do over my speakers