12 Gauge Alliance • Conspire To Conclude
It seems to me that there’s a new Welsh metalcore outfit springing up at least once a year to replace the one before them because they’ve got a bit too successful and lost their edge. The Lostprophets began with a bang and became rich LA rockers, not exactly edgy anymore and it looks like Bullet For My Valentine might head down the same route too. Nothing to worry about though as these bands are on a production line and the next one to fall off the conveyor belt is 12 Gauge Alliance, ready to stir up the scene and cause some sort of excitement again. Their up and coming release is ‘Conspire To Conclude’, 10 tracks of perfectly formulaic metalcore with the right amount of melody contrasting with some deep growling action and a bit of Enter Shikari electronica.
Basically ‘Conspire To Conclude’ kicks off with some over the top dramatic ‘thunder’ before evolving into an electronic instrumental piece. What follows are some big sounding rock songs with some even bigger riffs and over the top guttural action. It’s pretty much a meatier version of Bullet with a bit of an electronic groove.
They’ve definitely found a winning formula here and anyone with the depth of a paddling pool will probably think this is brilliant, no doubt those that like Enter Shikari with a bit of Bring Me The Horizon and Killswitch Engage thrown into the mix.
No prizes for innovation here at all though, in fact one of the most irritating things about 12 Gauge Alliance is that they’re probably going to be huge, they’ve got all the hooks in all the right places and the emocore/metalcore/whatevercore kids will lap this up. The band is actually due to support Aiden on their forthcoming 2008 tour and this will obviously open this band up to a massive young audience.
I think however uninspiring I find them, 12 Gauge Alliance really are a no-brainer, they’re more metal than Bullet and the electronica influence will keep the emo kids on side, pretty much the perfect combination.
Unfortunately I doubt anyone over the age of 17 will pay too much attention, they are of course a metal cliché, a tried and tested formula for the young and somewhat, dare I say lacking in imagination when it comes to music.
I know this band will probably gain the same amount of success as their Welsh predecessors, it is big sounding, riff heavy metal and that’s not going to be difficult to shift.