After listening to this Australian band’s self-titled work a few times without much enthusiasm, I knuckled down and concentrated. That says it all really. I was able to find the “intersecting rhythms” that they claim, but not the “point blank delivery of power”. The first track “F#cking Relentless” sums it up in name and style. It’s technically orientated, not so melodic Death Metal but it’s like someone somewhere came along and flattened it like a pancake. I didn’t find the progression of this track or its successors particularly interesting or fluid.
I’m really struggling to say anything good about “Sins of the Father”. It’s technically competent with Death Metal twists but “Sanity Song” continues where “F#cking Relentless” left off and sounds like it’s coming from the other side of a wall. The riffs aren’t especially interesting either. By “Watch the Earth Burn” I had come to the conclusion that there is intent but the songs are just dismal. It picks up a bit with “Aftermath”. A nice opening suggests that they might do better to slow down and display their wares that way, not that they ever threaten full power, but the track is spoilt by being in three distinct, incoherent parts. The background of “Choke” is uninspiring and follows the same pattern of its predecessors. Monotone growls intervene as ever. There is a change of direction but it’s not exciting. The drums pick up the baton and increase the pace for a fleeting blood rush, but in the main you wouldn’t be troubled here if you have a heart condition. The track moves on to a more reflective section, which like the similar section on “Aftermath” is much better, but it soon returns to the customary pointlessness. I had the impression that “Choke” was supposed to be a kind of masterpiece, but it wasn’t. I sensed also that “Behind These Walls We Rot” was supposed to strike fear but again it doesn’t. The faster, jollier beat of “Galaxy” provides relief from the interminable monotony, and the violent battery and attempt at sweeping darkness like an evil night wind of “The Ocean Bares Only Sorrows” have an air of Behemoth, but it just doesn’t get there. After a decent acoustic track, the album ends with “Black Cat”. In common with what has gone before, it rumbles on in a technically proficient way but there’s no spark.
For me, “Sins of the Father” never got going from the start, and it was 49 minutes of disappointment. The sound quality was partly responsible for this insipid affair, but at the same time the material wasn’t that strong. I was glad when it finished.
www.myspace.com/sinsofthefatherau
Andrew Doherty
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