Proving British Metal Is Alive And Kicking
Bands plying their trade in the screamo come post-hardcore genre can come along more often than a trick or treater on Halloween and usually come across scarier. The problem is this is a genre that is over subscribed, that’s bursting at the seams with up and coming bands all vying for the same spot and few rarely get close to reaching it.
Step forward Essex five piece Fei Comodo, a band that have been working the circuit for a few years now but who actually attempt to break the mould to some degree. Sure, on the surface their sound may not be much different from all the other acts, in all fairness this is screamo that sticks very much to the blueprint structure, but there’s still something special about the Essex lads, most notably the fact that they are a skilled and highly polished act that still inject that sense of raw energy, yet have the strength to sound like highly tuned machine.
Stealing guitar riffs from Bullet For My Valentine, the kind that veer off in one direction at break neck speed before sweeping through with an added touch of infectiousness, Fei Comodo have succeeded in whacking in a fist full of throat aching screams that screech and wail irresistibly, diving into hook riddled choruses with a graceful ease just to up the ante. Indeed this is the bases of latest album, ‘They All Have Two Faces’.
Kicking off with the tender meanderings of the aptly titled, ‘The Rest Will Follow’, Fei Comodo literally drop you head first into a feeling of security before the raging force of ‘Break The Ice’ pummels in, smashing you to the floor before neatly picking you up, dusting you off and hurtling you back once more. Packed with driving guitar riffs, ‘Break The Ice’ manages to throw in a blistering melody backed with hammering drum beats that all somehow join forces with singer Marc Halls’ almost soothing voice as he draws you further into Fei Comodo’s web ahead of unleashing a shattering burst of screams to further charge the energetic bound track. And herein is the brilliant foundation of ‘They All Have Two Faces’ as each track emerges with a gun fire of guitars that rip through earth crushing drum beats, all nicely gelled together with Halls’ melodic infusing voice as ‘Just Another Day’s anger fed grunts give way to the bone crunching ‘Watch Them Feed’. And whilst the tracks may all stem from the same bases, there is still something fresh and engaging about each one that makes you want to listen, that excites and explodes with vitality until you are simply eager to hear what’s next.
‘They All Have Two Faces’ is not an album that is going to up end the music world, it does after all adhere to a set formula but it’s a formula that works and does so with style. Ultimately it is an album to get excited about, to renew your faith in the British metal scene and prove that whilst the Europeans may lead the way in the Death Metal stakes, whilst America may still head the race in the punk pop field, there are still British bands out there that are going to give them all a run for their money. And what a race it will be.