Casket Music is part of Copro Records who have been adopting and supporting an assortment of genre related bands for many years. There is no let up in the quantity of releases they have sent us recently and it has been impossible to keep up reviewing each in their own right. Therefore here is the latest round-up of recent releases courtesy of Andrew Doherty, with other writers dissecting the backlog at a later date. Achromatic – Playground. Achromatic are from Iran and play “groovy/funky Alternative Metal”. The fact that they managed to come together at all and produce an EP in a country where such activity is disapproved of is an achievement in itself.
I found “Playground” puzzling. The underlying riffs sound muddy and at variance with the vocals, which are occasionally hesitant and stuttering (“vulnerable” would be too complimentary) and fall in their tone somewhere between The Old Dead Tree and the Cure. “Playground” rumbles along crunchily for 6 tracks, with a bit of acoustic input on “Downfall”. I liked the first track “No Light Shone” and without being earth-shattering, has good changes of pace to reflect the mood. Overall, this work has a raw feel but it is also rich on musical ideas and moods, while being very heavy on words. There are soulful, experimental and, frankly, out of tune moments. I guess this a function of the band’s imagination. I didn’t entirely get what Achromatic were doing here. In the guise of a traditional song structure, it’s “Alternative”. With rough and smooth parts and weak vocals, I found it hard to grasp the whole concept and it was therefore difficult to like.
Bewizen – The Scorch of RageThis is the debut album from Bewizen, who come from Greece. There’s a bit of everything Metal on this album. Hardcore meets Progressive Death Metal, with occasionally complicated and unfluid structures. For the most part thunderous, there’s melody in with the roars and there’s plenty of energy. The drumming is striking, fast and varied. There’s a lot to like on this album, on which the band have clearly taken care to provide variety within each track, so much so that at different times I found myself drawing comparison with Killswitch, Soilwork and on “Cage of Cages” even Dark Tranquillty. The weak point is the clean vocals, which lacked power and conviction. I didn’t get much impression of anger and rage. Whilst there was a shortage of impact in this way, the song structures are interesting and there’s a catchiness on the slower and more measured “Cyanide Blood”. I’d suggest attention is needed to the production and certainly the harmonies but this album has got a lot of good points and Bewizen are certainly heading in the right direction.
Hellbound – Din’t Hear No BellHellbound from Gloucester make great claims about their unwillingness to “tow the corporate line”. It’s true that they don’t appear to be aspiring to win X Factor, but this said, they’re not the most original Metal band I’ve heard. It is chunky and melodic Classic Metal arising from the book of Skid Row, complete with their intonations, but notched up with plenty of aggression and hard riffs. The band has appeared at festivals and I can see that they would go down well with their brand of hypnotic and straightforward brand of Americanised Metal. The sound quality is good and conveys Hellbound’s energy. Although “Din’t Hear No Bell” isn’t as anarchic as the packaging seems to suggest – perhaps I just go around in the wrong circles – and it’s not brilliantly imaginative, it’s a good, hard-hitting album.
Treason – Lambs to the SlaughterThis band goes back as far as 1988, and consists of a guitarist and vocalist from a former Thrash band, a bassist from a punk band, and a drummer from a space rock outfit. There’s no question about the technical quality of this album, but I would have expected more creativity. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not bad at all. From the outset there’s a mechanical and a more than catchy rocking rhythm. Smooth and anthemic rock songs characterise this work. I liked the upbeat and atmospheric “The Milk of Human Kindness”. The singer and general ambiance recall the German band Subway to Sally. This is followed by “Sick Man of Europe”, a dark and heavier answer to “We Will Rock You”. With the exception of some occasionally funky guitar, the thrashier and catchy “Face without a Song” and the title track “Lambs to the Slaughter”, the album gets progressively more plodding and ponderous. At the same time the clearly enunciated lyrics become increasingly morbid, culminating in the acoustically sinister and repetitive “Requiem for a Friend (Part 2)”. This is a collection of real rock songs, but I’m afraid I just didn’t find “Lambs to the Slaughter” exciting.
So who’s the winner of this unofficial “Battle of the Bands”? Well, the band I’d like to hear more of in the future, once they’ve tidied up their sound and vocals, is Bewizen. On the strength of what I heard here, my vote goes to Hellbound, whose “Didn’t Hear No Bell” album is fresh and very enjoyable.
http://www.muspace.com/achromatic-band
http://www.myspace.com/bewizedofficial
http://www.myspace.com/hellboundmusic
http://www.myspace.com/treasonband.com
http://www.coprorecords.co.uk
Andrew Doherty
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