Artist: Frontlines
Title: Self-titled
Type: Demo MCD
Label: Self-released
This deliberately engineered breath of rancid air is a 20 minute four track demo from a Finnish band who formed in 2006. It’s actually a very enjoyable listen. Yet the deep and persistent bass line, the chunky low-in-the range guitar riffs and the steady tempo all smack of punishment. The vocalist has the throatiness of the guy from Entombed. Yet thick and treacly as it is, it’s not heading towards the worlds of Stoner or Sludge. On the contrary, there’s a good groove line which makes the heaviness and the inherent inexorable darkness that much more appealing. There’s a strong classic metal element too, and whilst it’s too angry to be regarded as bright and breezy, the progression within all the tracks make it very accessible.
The key is the movement, which is present from the opening moments of “Wrecked” and has the hallmarks of Pantera with a bit of Swedish Death Metal thrown in. That rhythm guitar drives it along and helps to develop heavy melodic, ponderous and thumping heavy sections plus intelligently interweaved solos as on “Roadkill”. It’s never clever for its own sake. It’s always solid and towards the end on “Faceless” the band proves itself capable of a big moment with a slowed-down climactic guitar serenade – wonderful stuff.
It’s not especially original as a work, but that doesn’t matter. This effort from Frontlines is a gem. They have set their sights on playing live, and on the strength of this I imagine they will captivate their audiences with their interesting and all-out contribution to the world of groovy heaviness. In advance of that, it’s well worth accessing their site to have a listen.
http://www.myspace.com/frontlinesmetal
Andrew Doherty
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