Huge Riffs
By what seems a contradiction to the metal mainstream and the Kerrang channel dumping ground, Sizen's new album, 'What Do You See', is a collection of big sledgehammer riffs that metal used to be prolific at delivering. Because of this, 'What Do You See', is a refreshing change from a lot of new music that has passed my way recently. It's not original, far from it, and it's not without its flaws, but 'What Do You See' is a reminder of why we like, and continue to heap praise on, bands such as Pantera, Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden.
I guess you could describe this album as having one foot in contemporary metal and one lodged under a rock in 1995. What we have here is a band more interested in working on catchy riffs rather than gelling their hair and writing songs about how their parents won't let them stay out until eleven o'clock. On this level this album is quite brilliant. There are riffs on this disc that will have you nodding your head, grooving your feet and, on occasion, breaking out the old air guitar for a bit of a nostalgic air string twanging. There's a nice heavy production going on as well. Everything is in its place and the extra reverberated guitars make them sound that little bit more massive, which is just what is needed for this style of metal.
On a music front there's little to dislike on 'What Do You See'. 'Aggrofist' is as hard hitting as it sounds (perhaps the most hardcore sounding song on offer), 'Asylum' has one hell of a groove and 'Water It Down' could sit in the Rage Against The Machine discography quite well. There are three songs that are seven-minute plus and it takes a lot for this type of music to work at such lengths. Sadly this is where the band falter slightly. When Sizen are ripping up the five-minute or less tunes they sound a lot more convincing than on the 'epic' tracks. 'Still Me' is perhaps the stronger of the three, whereas the title number has yet to hold my interest for its full running time. This is a little unfair because I am sure its brilliant if you can sit through it all, and maybe one day I will, but it just seems a little too bitty.
On another note the vocals of Max Andrews are an interesting aspect. He isn't Phil Anselmo and thankfully he doesn't even try to be. If you can imagine Rage or Pantera being fronted by Richard Patrick from Filter or Matt Bradbury from Send No Flowers and you'll get a taste of the music Andrews and Sizen are dishing out. Andrews is a good vocalist, you can hear it, but you wish he would let rip a little more because far too many times he's crooning over the big riffs. On 'Aggrofist' he turns up the grit a little bit and it sounds fantastic and much more suited to the style of music. Perhaps a mixture of the two would be a perfect match for Sizen without losing their own identity. Don't let these detractions put you off because 'What Do You See' is an album that has its balls on the outside and is choc full of huge riffage on the inside.