Andrew Danso

Drowned In Flames, ambition blighted, attempt to mesh together an odd coupling of Alice In Chains, and Deftones on their debut EP. Ambitious in a sense that rekindling such acts is a burden of huge proportion; blighted on a mere reflection that it’s just not done very well. Moreover, not only do you need vast elements of craftsmanship to write in the same vein as Alice In Chains, you need a production that goes hand in hand with a project as fuzzy and seismic as the old grungers. It’s obvious DIF don’t have that resource, and in context they’ve had to resort to Studio B generic sound, which doesn’t give credence to a small EP based on a big idea. Musically, the entire release rubs of a little muddled. It feels like a demo, waiting to be sliced up and experimented with, as toying with the warmth of AIC beside an extremity highlights a raw idea, with little direction.

5/10 Powerplay issue #130