Blues metal with an acoustic heart.
Every so often a random CD arrives in the in-tray. This is the one for this month. With no idea what to expect, the initial assault of ‘Blessed Burden’ is intense, detuned metal. About halfway it settles down into a recognisable beat, but as it segues into ‘Everything Went Quiet’ (oh, the irony) you’d be hard pushed to remember it. That second track is probably as light as it gets on the metal side of things, if light can be defined as several tonnes of concrete falling from a great height. By ‘Nameless Streets’ we’ve established a pattern, or we think we have anyway, until we hit a guitar solo of sorts, which is sharp and clean against the wall-of-sound backing.
‘Forgiver Forgetter’ is a chaotic, intricate track, probably the best on the album, thanks to the respite from the relentless onslaught in a slow guitar-led wind-down before regrouping and launching all guns blazing into the edgy ‘City By Dawn’. It only lasts a couple of minutes at the most before the guitar and drums coda leads into ‘Prophet In Plain Clothes’. Despair, tragedy, and hopelessness permeate the desperate screamed vocals that form the centrepiece of the songs. The music behind it is solid, and for the most part relentless. Whatever thoughts you’d had about the songs are blown out of the water by the sudden appearance of the stripped back acoustic ‘Prophet…’ Somewhere in the mess of metal the lyrics are actually blues. Now the cryptic cover and story on the inside of the sleeve are a little easier to understand. But the assault continues on ‘Carrying Weight’ and ‘Moon Shine’, with the drums going into overdrive and hearts ready to bust.
Taking a closer look at the sleeve, and the little words “lyrics borrowed from bob dylan” are mystifying. Even ‘The Blues’ is that strange mixture of blues lyrics as played by a thrash band. The whole effect is malcontented, edgy. It’s hard to say it’s a likeable album. The more you listen, the more the ideas come through. But there’s something identifiable about it, especially tracks like ‘Debt’ and the neat guitar riff and ending of ‘Cowardice’. Maybe not the bit about the killing and stuff. Overall it’s not too memorable, but still powerful.