Electro-metal is generally boggy ground. It’s all too easy for crap metal bands to recruit a good keyboard player and play second fiddle as they’re drowned out by layers of loops and samples with the odd riff thrown in. It’s an area that even veteran bands like Paradise Lost have stumbled close to falling into on occasion. When your “meat and two-veg” however, is to “redefine electro-metal generally”. as Liveevil’s bio proudly states then you can potentially run into trouble as you rehash old cliché’s and flounder under the weight of your own ambition.
This all being said, Liveevil are a fundamentally solid band. They can write a catchy riff, they can get a good groove going and have a lot sing-a-long potential. Unique Constellation’s opening track ‘Monster World’ probably highlights this the best with a strong catchy riff where the electronics are used sparingly to tie the different elements of the song together. ‘One Night Story’ however, is a great example of what Oomph! do well with its classic chugging guitars, swirling dance synths and catchy hooks, but for all it’s merit it shows how easy it is to re-hash traditions. ‘We Are Newborn’ feels a little more original toward the beginning but it soon ends up in the pseudo-classical realms - it’s not by any means a bad song but it perhaps would have been better performed by Dark Age. ‘Roof Walkers’ feels more like it - nice use of the vocal harmonies and the spacey electronics give it a nice accessible prog feel, but it doesn’t quite get into fifth gear due to the way it’s mixed. ‘Elated’ is a nice change of pace with it’s piano sounds and spacey electronics overlying programmed beats as the rest of the band wade into more confident and epic waters, however the vocals could do with re-thinking though. ‘Monochromatic Puppets’ is a fantastic example of a good, heavy, danceable electro-metal track devoid of pretension and cliché - here the band really come into their own. ‘Moment’ continues on from ‘Elated’ with its fresher and more inspiring sound, but the vocals sound too low in the mix and they need a little something to give them more edge. ‘Lost In Love’ goes into a world of its own somewhere between and industrial-metal ballad and ambient chill-out that never gets going. ‘Resistance’ on the other hand returns to that solid rock/metal groove that made ‘Monster World’ and enticing listen, but again those vocals get lost in the mix.
Finally we get two bonus tracks in the form of Duffy’s ‘Mercy’ and ‘Snow Brigade’ by Mew which aim to carry on the tradition of industrial metal covers of pop songs. The Duffy cover is a flat but resounding no - it just sounds too contrived and sloppy. The Mew cover however fairs a lot better with the band’s style really gelling well with the source material.
The band are good at what they do, there is no doubt about that, but their vision seems clouded. Their loudest shouts of originality are muffled by a bad mix on the songs, whereas their most solid performances re-hash the conventions of the NDH genre. All-in-all it’s a good effort but it falls short of the mark.
http://www.myspace.com/liveevilband
