Artist: Artas
Title: Riotology
Type: Napalm Records
Label: Album

Napalm records have always appeared to me to be a bit like the mother of noted A-Team hard-man, B.A. Barracus. You see, just like Mrs Barracus, (forename: Joan), Napalm records didn't raise no fools. The Austrian metal label has only very rarely produced anything approaching a failure. High expectations indeed, then, for fellow Austrian types, “Artas”, which as I am too lazy to properly research it, I am going to tell you is Patagonian for “Jammy Dodgers”.

Well, first thing's first, here's a treat for all you genre collectors out there, Artas are apparently “modern” metal. I'm not entirely sure I have come across chronological rock music before, (except perhaps Anthrax's “Persistence of Time” LOL), but as far as I can make out, this means fairly middle of the road heavy metal backed up by an impressively chunky production. Big, fat rolling riffs are thrown about like they're free, with rollocking big melodic tunes cascading one after another on the album. In some ways it's an ambitious album; there are clean, acoustic numbers full of plaintive vocal refrains that are knocking on the door of Stone Sour territory, while tracks like “No Pasaran” take a voyage into modern thrash territory. I can't quite decide whether or not the wide range of influences in the album are a bonus or a distraction; personally, when Artas decide to release all their horsepower, they motor along at a fair old rate, and are all the better for it. On the other hand, the more insipid moments are a bit of a drag. From time to time, I got the impression that some of the tracks were too reliant on easy ear-friendly choruses, and that began to grate.

It's perhaps not all that strange to find that Riotology began to grate on my nerves, though, when you consider that this is a 16 track album weighing in at around the 70 minutes mark. Even without the tell tale strains of ADHD of being weaned on a digital diet since birth, 70 minutes would be stretching the boundaries of my attention. I'm not sure if Artas simply placed everything they recorded onto a single disc, but about a third of the tracks here are filler. It may have been wiser for them to have halved the amount of music for the album and polished them, making an album with a coherent identity and a true sense of direction. As it is, the amount of music here represents the law of diminishing returns, which is a shame as there are some very enjoyable songs to be savoured here. With a little more patience and a tighter quality control, Artas could produce a great album. As it is, they've produced an acceptable release, which is not advisable in a market place drowning with competent bands. Joan Barracus would be miffed.

http://www.myspace.com/artasmetal