Artist: Djevara
Title: The Rising Tide Pt. 1 – Corsa Al Ribasso
Type: EP
Label: Genin

It’s obvious what it is that Djevara aren’t trying to accomplish in their sound, and if its tunefulness and melody you are after you might want to turn away now. In fact, there are a handful of people I can think of personally who would give me strange looks if I played them this. So what are they about? Well, to say this is a complete bloody racket wouldn’t be an out and out fib, but more accurate would be to say they are about experimentation. Rule-breaking is, I’m sure, high up the agenda and while influences aren’t difficult to pick out they are one of those bands you can’t pigeonhole quite so easily.

There is no time wasted and I am straight away yelled at in a rather unpleasant fashion; neither a whine nor a scream but somewhere in the middle and vocally it remains on this level avoiding that clichéd pattern of whiny chorus, grunted verse. Musically it’s all rather discordant and the band attempt to throw everything into a wild and chaotic mix; just as things settle into a routine and you begin to get in with the groove it all gets chucked up in the air and rearranged. There is something odd going on with the track arrangements; still thinking I’m on the first track I look down and realise its half way through #2 and then another three minutes later it seems to have shifted into another melody entirely until eventually ‘Once More With Feeling’ sneaks in. This is the most memorable track for me with its jazzy, angular guitars while as those words are shouted out there’s a strong semblance to Zack De La Rocha (RATM).

‘Corsa Al Ribasso’ is quite subdued and offers a brief moment of melody with Spanish guitars, which is followed by ‘View From a Glass House’ which, with its odd time signatures, simply refuses to conform. Djevara are doing nothing that hasn’t been done before and if you enjoy the style of metal played by the likes of At The Drive In, or even perhaps the technicalities of Tool then they are a band worth checking out.

http://www.myspace.com/djevara

Luci Herbert

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