I can find sod all info about this release anywhere and the info on the cover isn’t as clear as it could be. From what I can gather, tracks 7 – 11 are taken from Tricore’s full length ‘Less Than Man, More Than Rabbit’ while the first 6 tracks are from a side project of the band, known as An Entire Legion. If this is not correct, then to the band I apologise.
So it doesn’t seem too long ago that the world was suffering from the awful pandemic that was Y2K mania; remember that? I’m still mourning the fact that the world didn’t end…and ho hum, life has gone on as normal. Just shows how easily people are suckered in to celebrating pointless holidays, and how willing they are to pander to the whims of companies who’re out to make a quick buck (or quid, sorry for the Americanism!) The computers somehow all survived, technology has advanced no end especially when I think back to the old brick-with-antenna I lugged around back then…hell, had I seen one of today’s plasma screens back in the day I’d have thought I’d leapt into an episode of Star Trek! Okay, nu-metal was pretty bland and I can’t say I ever fully bought into it, but I grew up in the 90’s and so naturally some of it rubbed off on me; so it’s not a “cool” thing to say, but to say otherwise would be a lie. Still, the mainstream metal trends of today actually make me feel fortunate that I grew up when I did and compared to screamo, metalcore and all the other stuff in rotation on Kerrang TV, nu-metal is like aural fucking candy!
Hearing this CD it really feels as though the 1990’s never ended. It’s easy to be taken back and to think you could quite well step outside and spot kids wearing Korn hoodies and baggy jeans and with spiky hair or blue highlights. A trip to the MySpace shows them proudly declare “we are children of the 90’s” and it’s refreshing to see a band not making any pretences, ignoring what’s fashionable and just playing what they love. This does have its ups and downs and as ‘Avalon’ kicks in there’s a flatness to it that initially doesn’t inspire much confidence but then given it’s early days it’s acceptable and all is soon forgotten when the album warms up. There are some really catchy melodies here, and ‘Twelve Ton A Foot’ has a strong chorus and I do like the tongue in cheek lyrics. It’s packed with energy and the kind of vibrancy and “fun” that the decade was all about.
‘I’ll Never Leave’ is more low key and has a gentleness about it until it breaks down with a mosh heavy guitar-oriented bit that reminds of Korn. The vocals are largely clean and yet have attitude rather than being whiny. As the second half of the disc comes to pass it gives a firm ‘Slap’ in the face with some heavy guitars with a metallic Slipknot-esque edge. There’s a lively, rollicking groove to ‘Sign Off’ and while I find the Tricore stuff to lean more to the heavy side than An Entire Legion, there are some similarities especially with the vocals. This is nothing original, but that’s a daft statement to make considering these lads are clearly having fun and not taking themselves too seriously. Worth a listen.
http://www.myspace.com/thetricore
