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The opening track, Beat Oven, kicks of with some trippy ambient waves of sound before a simple repeated riff sweeps you along into the song proper. The track has a dark, brooding atmosphere and reminds me of Metallica at their slowest and heaviest, an impression reinforced by the Hetfield-esque snarl in Gareth David-Lloyd's vocals. Just when you think you have the band sussed the next track, Sugarglass, is an out and out heavy rocker that seriously ups the tempo and will be the cause of more than a few sore necks at the band's live shows. This is an album that manages that rarest of things, to build up an expectation of what is to come next, and then confound it by taking an unexpected turn. After the heavy progressive Metal feel to the opening tracks there is an altogether more stoner-rock, laid back feel to the reverb rich guitars and the Nick Cave-esque vocals at the start of the next track, Skinned, before it too builds up to a pounding crescendo. Blue Gillespie are a band who clearly don't believe in overcomplicating their music. It is built on the sound basis of well written songs and memorable melodies all laid over excellent bass lines and some really interesting guitar riffs. On their own the way these elements combine would be enough to make this something special, but it is the range and variety in the vocal delivery which lifts this release above the ordinary as Gareth portrays despair and brooding anger with an impressive passion. He is backed by a clearly very capable band who can do fast and slow with equal panache, and effortlessly manage to switch between the two in a way that seems perfectly natural. More tripped out stoner reverb-ey guitar opens one of the highlights of the album, the brilliant Making Sound. It's a sign of a great band when they can work a fairly simple rhythm and chord pattern into something a bit special, and without it sounding repetitive. It just proves that a song doesn't have to be over-complicated in order to be very good. There are a number of influences you can pull out in the overall sound. When he's letting rip Gareth's vocal delivery has shades of James Hetfield, but when he backs off his range of vocal styles becomes apparent (There's even, believe it or not, touches of Mark Knopfler at the start of Wiff) but musically it is difficult to nail down many direct comparisons,. They have a similar emotional intensity to Blue October but with the heavier 'edge' of bands like Tool. There are also traces of Blue Gillespie's prog-rock forefathers in the mix. There is a nice Pink Floyd feel to the track Paradox which I really like. Perhaps the only 'criticism' I have of this album is the way that this track changes. After relaxing in the instrumental ambience the arrival of the heavier chords and vocals is not altogether welcome. I would have preferred to have seen Paradox run it's course in a way that felt more natural. This really is a very good album. It manages to combine hard rock, blues, metal and touches of a more trippy and ambient vibe with a dexterity I have not heard equalled recently, while still holding together as a cohesive work. The production is also perfectly suited to the overall sound of the band as it's not so polished as to lose the intensity that comes through in the music. I must admit that this album was not at all what I was expecting, but it's nice to be pleasantly surprised from time to time. It's certainly in my top 10 of the year so far. Oh, and I HAVE to see this band live. |
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