The Poles are particularly good at mangling the English language, and with the press release dubbing Rootwater as “mediacore” I can’t help but wonder if this is a misspell of mediocre (in which case sack your PR man!) or some clever (read: pretentious) new sub-genre. The press-release then goes on to mention that the lyrical inspiration for this band is mainly of political themes and relating to current affairs which does make a little more sense when you think about it and even more so given how they are apparently ‘Poland’s answer to SOAD’. In more ways that one, might I add.
Rootwater have that 90’s metal sound that will be familiar to most, and while the new Fear Factory is bound to drum up the reminder that it wasn’t all bad, are Rootwater just as likely to sink that sentiment? Well actually they do pull it off quite well and while it’s not breaking any boundaries parts of this album have me seriously getting into things. Tracks like ‘Follow The Spirit’ possess that stomping rhythm and ‘Timeless’ has a real lively bounce to it while the guitars keep things nice and heavy. Being on the incestuous Mystic Productions roster, Rootwater features the distinguishable vocals of Maciek Taff of Black River who really puts a huge amount of passion into his voice; his voice has a rich and soulful tone to it and is delivered with just the right amount of power without going over the top.
What really sets this apart from a lot of the 90’s metal riff-raff is the atmosphere. ‘Realise’ is one of the best examples of this as it builds up a very mystical ambience which gradually rises and it all sounds as though shrouded by a thick fog. The vocal lines have a hint of Breed 77 about them while there’s an Eastern flavour to the melody. There are some funky ethnic vibes scattered across the album, such as on ‘Timeless’ which breaks into a Latino Samba rhythm half way along while ‘Venture’ gets a little bit proggy as it breaks down from the guitar-chugging heaviness of the main song.
With its thrashy guitars ‘Freedom’ just about transports you down to the skate park for a quick blast of the fast and furious a la Suicidal Tendancies, and at 36 seconds in length there is no hint of pretension. ‘Living In The Cage’ utilises some synths that work well against the Disturbed-like vigour and square rhythm that is easy to bang that head to. This album isn’t going to reinvent the wheel so to speak, but if you’re looking for something with plenty of energy and something that isn’t too challenging to get down and mosh to then Rootwater is for you.
http://www.myspace.com/rootwater/
