Andrew Danso

It’s very rare that we come to enjoy acts who aren’t academic by their own standards. Often it takes reassessment through each album before one sticks within public domain, and should it be the case with Taste Of Tears, they haven’t got much to learn despite Once Human being their full-length debut.

The album flows in melodic metal, with progressive flights and complex rhythm work sketchfully plotted throughout its length. This is certainly a frayed effort, feeling like ones reckless rush of blood at work, instead of the balance in adrenaline and thought - it is a cry for a producer, a hierarchy, to reign in a lot of the whimsy impulse on show, and make do with whatever edits need to be made.

Potential is what Once Human carries in abundance. Usually debuts never avoid the rough around the core, and getting a feel for an act is just as important as what’s heard sonically on the disc. In this quartets case, there’s something very amiable about their enthusiasm and wealth of ideas, which sets up an album based on a strong set of fundamentals, and powerful spirit.

6/10 Powerplay issue #138

For all of their artistic claims, David R Black tend to stick by a classic formula, building a tune on basic premises (for example, an opening guitar riff chugging on one side of the stereo field, before the other instruments gradually fill the gaps), and letting rip into the chorus. It’s old, tried and tested, but they make it feel effective, especially when the choruses whack, zing, and crunch. It’s not meant to stand the test of time, but it resonates enough for a suitable headbang.

It’s not all basic rock; Secret City does have a trick up its sleeve, bar a power chorus or two. The vocal performances of both David R and Sarit Black are wispy and ethereal, giving the record an air, and a sophistication which contrasts radiantly with the chugging guitars. It’s a highpoint, not just on a production level, but on a technical one too, that will help push the trio’s identity outside of the many accomplished acts which have been swimming around forever.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

It’s easy to discount retrograde remakes as nothing but laboured nostalgia, but it’s incredibly important for fans to feel that sense of time warp every now and then – not least to remind them how far their chosen genre leaps forward year after year. The genre in question is doom, with Obrero being a Swedish stoner rock band, focused on recreating that 70s sludge which helped define a trendy blueprint, decades on. Mortui Vivos Docent (the dead teach the living) is obviously not meant to be an innovator, but in reliving the past, it conveys that smoke-filled, grimy atmosphere, which characterised 70s rock sensationally. It’s also crammed full of well-crafted arrangements, that are executed with as much edge as one could squeeze from a late 90s tweed amplifier.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

With a Muse perspective on progressive rock, this Italian quartet are certainly worth their salt throughout Forecasts. Often laced in rhythmic guitar jigs, along with a fleeting vocal performance, tracks Forecast #1: Why Bother and Forecast #2: Send Me A Souvenir chime with degrees of sophistication, while Yesteryear is much more buoyant on rocking out with twanged indie chugs, and an energetic vocal. The key with progressive music has always been making repetition become enchanting, yet Planet Brain feel unnecessarily long-winded and tepid, when they decide to hit on a few proggy extensions – however, this is a pithy remark, as the four-piece are often indulged in artsy rock, rather than all out prog. An example of this is the comparatively short track length, averaging at around four minutes. Ultimately Forecasts is a display of excellent talent and promise – one can only think of bigger and better things, come the full length.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

Of the hardcore trash type, Sort By Title are content in throwing many styles at the wall, and hopeful that one or two of its nuances stick. It all whims by fairly quickly, with each number flying in an adrenaline packed three and a half minutes – at the very least an assault on the ear. The most captivating element throughout the EP is the vocal performance, dynamic enough to give the tracks that archetypal aggression, so often lost within the muddies of melodic guitars and thud of punkish drumming. This is a scrappy humane effort – and it’s all the better for it.

7/10 Powerplay issue #137

Alternative rock is probably one of the most vague, misconstrued attempts at putting together a genre. Greenthief tag themselves ‘alt’, so how on earth does that relate to their sound? Rock but a little bit different? Isn’t that what every new rock distro breaks their back over claiming?

Greenthief are alternative by way of being adventurous. Through fancy, sophisticated progressions and a layered production, the Aussie four-piece meander across their coloured plain of rock more artistically than the moody taboo which alt-rock often carries. Track “Vultures” is put together like a progressive tune, yet it only runs beyond the four minute mark. It contains jump up and rock choruses, with calm and space in between, coloured by Steve James' (Sex Pistols, The Jam) production, aligning fizz and whirls enchanting the mix.

7/10 Powerplay issue #136

Emerging from the grunge laden Seattle, SYFT do the kind of hard-rock which packs a punch live, but struggles to find its way in the form of a full length album. The commercially ready New Beginning certainly won’t fail to find an audience, because they’re definitely not breaking any ground – sounding akin to Slipknot, Creed and Pod may be no bad thing, but straight imitation is another, and SYFT’s latest, pushes to the bone on being another copycat. The album feels dirty and hard edged, but the repetitive (notably in-same-key vocal) labours through the entire release, thwarting each tune into becoming something predictable. New Beginning would make for a strong EP, but as a full length, it’s as predictable as a wasp on speed.

6/10 Powerplay issue #136