If there’s one thing that makes a music writer’s life easier, it’s when a band give themselves a nice tidy description on their Myspace. That way, the writer can shore up their word count by proving/disproving said description. In this case, Carcer City’s teasingly offer up the term ‘Scouse metal’, and not much else. This is clearly a band that likes their music to do the talking, and they should be proud they did, because this is a stone cold stonker.

Wisely eschewing the hybrid of Machine Head and Soilwork that’s been doing the rounds in the UK metal scene lately, they instead wisely adopt the serveball riffing of the likes of Between The Buried And Me or War From A Harlot’s Mouth, although the jazzier excesses of both are reigned in, giving a more streamlined effect. Opening track ‘The Escapist’ sets out their agenda pretty early: shuddering riffs and drum fill flurries abound, with the occasional twinkly lead to break things up even more. The end result is something that is breathlessly exciting, and yet accessible at the same time. Follow on track ‘Staring Into The Sun’ starts with an skinny, driving melodic lead, that brings to mind a Killswitch Engage breakdown, then turns into a pin sharp palm-muted riff fest.

It’s the title tracks which act as the centrepiece to this album’s sound: the first part has riffs clicking together so seamlessly that they make the gaps between particles seem a country mile, while the latter half brings in slightly more ambient elements, like a leaner Neurosis, with an odd-metered and almost contemplative guitar part to draw in the listener – a similar trick used on ‘Signals’. It’s this willingness to deviate from the beaten track that gives ‘The Life We Have Chosen’ such an utterly addictive quality; the jinking fretboard runs on ‘The Walls That Divide’ are a case in point. It’s rather like watching Ronaldo skip his way through the six-yard box, although ‘Closed Eyes’ is rather more muscular than that analogy would suggest; the sonic effect is more like Usian Bolt zig-zagging his way through a minefield.

Promisingly enough for Carcer City, this is their only debut album, and is reassuringly solid without being crowded by technicality, much a trimmed down No Made Sense. If all Scouse metal is this good, let’s have more of it.

http://www.myspace.com/carcercity

Steve Jones

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