Artist: Seven7
Title: Under Eye
Type: Album
Label: MGP Records

With all my reviews, I’ve refused to be swayed by trends. Just because a band is big or being pushed by their label, doesn’t mean it will get a good review from me. Likewise, I won’t be a po-faced muso and pretend to like something just because it’s rare, underground, and nobody else has heard of it. If I like something, I say so, and I say why. Conversely, if I don’t like something, I say so, and I say why in no uncertain terms. That is why, after a whole load of listens to the new album ‘Undereye’ by Seven7, this has become one of the harder reviews to write. I really, really like this album, I just don’t know why!

The first bars of album opener ‘The Ice Man’, heavy with bass, made me think, ‘yep, more groove metal to wade through.’ That impression is built up with the heavy, almost jazzy riffs of the first verse, which then unexpectedly soar into an almost prog rock verse before the kick drums blast in again. It’s a mix that shouldn’t work, but Seven7 have pulled it all together so the different styles don’t jar, instead they play off and enhance each other. Next up is ‘Boy Drowns Girl’, the nu metal vocals weaving through the complex, eccentric, yet expertly played instruments. I’m sure lesser bands could have fallen into the trap of allowing the complex themes of each track to clash, but somehow it all comes together. Even ‘Wannabe’, one of the hardest hitting tracks of the album with its pounding verse rises through intricate guitar solos into a massively layered, melodic, yet discordant verse, the angry shouts and flying fret board work putting me in mind of Fear Factory at their most inventive. This eclectic style is encapsulated in the epic nine minutes plus of album closer and title track, ‘Under Eye’. The sound varies from the staccato shout of Disturbed through the complex prog melodies of Dream Theatre, but all with Seven7’s own edge and ear grabbing energy and skill

For sci-fi geeks out there, the best analogy for the music of Seven7 I’m put in mind of is Red Dwarf’s infamous Triple Fried Egg Chilli Chutney sandwich: the eggs, wrong; the chilli; wrong; the chutney, very, very wrong; but put them all together, and they’re just right.

http://www.myspace.com/thesevenband

Spenny Bullen

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