The Apparatus

 Sunday, 03 August 2008 It's been a while since Madrid's Hybrid gave us anything: two years. For me, it's been a really long wait. The EP showed so much promise and an outsider's method of writing technical, progressive metal. For the first full-length, Hybrid took the promise and abrasiveness hinted at on the EP and then branched out so much to great effect. 'The 8th Plague' is one of the finest debuts of the year. Here's why...

Hybrid is a hardcore band at its heart. The astoundingly heavy breakdowns, guttural yells, and drum techniques tend to recall memories of classic 90s hardcore. However, the organization of this album has frequent appearances of death metal, technical metal, black metal, free jazz, Latin rhythms, and just about everything in-between. This is not the kind of stop-start genre switching that inexperienced arrangers use; Hybrid use highly-effective transitions to effortlessly segue, ebb, and weave all genres aforementioned into a diverse tapestry of sound.

Pick two points on both ends of the entire extreme metal spectrum. Hybrid play as many different styles as possible without going too far in either direction - thus, there is no alienation or disorientation felt by the core audience.* The album never gets stale, never spends too much time in one area, and is always texturally diverse. You'll be in the middle of a really catchy breakdown one second, and then be in the middle of a sick black metal blast the next.

I absolutely love the performances from the band. New vocalist Albano Fortes has amazing range and ability to sing different styles. His main method of performance is his punchy shouting. It's full of energy and articulation. Guitar playing by J. Oliver and Miguel play off each other well, and use the Chris Arp guitar screeches to contrast the catchy chugging. Kike and Chus Maestro - bass and drums, respectively - compliment each other wondefully. Maestro is always successfully experimenting with different accents and rhythms. His playing is a joy to listen to and is my personal favorite aspect of Hybrid's instrumentation.

A lot of care was put into the production as well. The cover art is clean and detailed. The art by Seldon Hunt has plenty of contrast in sizes and colors, and the layout of the album art is overall minimalist and not distracting. The mastering by Alan Douches and the very quality recording by Carlos Santos is great for this kind of music - it's harsh and brutal when it needs to be, as well as knowing when to be warm and clear with no problem.

If you tire of extreme metal overstepping its boundaries and are quickly becoming a jaded fan, 'The 8th Plague' will undoubtedly save your life. It's original and it is absolutely not pretentious. This band loves what it does and is exceptionally good at it. It's a return to actual musical arrangement and ingenuity that has been lacking from metal for a while. Hybrid is a band that many people will love, but nobody knows about it yet. Hopefully, that will change. If any new band deserves to be recognized and highly revered in an overcrowded scene, this is the one.

*Thanks for the metaphor, Paul.

 Monday, 16 June 2008 This is a very pleasant surprise. This CA-based hardcore act plays hardcore and thrash-influenced metal, but it also remains pretty technical and interesting without making those aspects too obvious. Rise Of Caligula's brief, but accomplished, album is one that fans of hardcore, tech, and post rock will get into. It's an apocalyptic-sounding album, but it never gets ahead of itself.

Even though the record is only 20 minutes long, the content is sufficient enough to satisfy and invite listeners back for a few more rounds. The band balances the slow, brooding parts -- which work beautifully -- with the intense, technical shredding parts. The best track is the first one, and it perfectly advertises what to expect in the rest of the album. It starts off unbelievably chaotic and distorted before turning into a slow, atmospheric dirge before picking up with the same level of intensity the song started off with. "Polar," the middle track, is an instrumental sludge experiment that works in perfect counterpoint to the intense follow-up track "In The Temple Of Thieves." "Midmorning Disintegration" has a great riff in the middle that throws back the sound to earlier metal and hardcore bands. The album closer is a beautiful instrumental acoustic melody that closes the album out in a different way than it began.

I'm a fan of the production here. The album art complements the sound perfectly, and the colors have a nice contrast with the graphic layout. The music sounds pretty great for such an indie effort. The drums sound amazing. I love how airy and natural they sound. The cymbals are a little too sizzley for my taste, but they are at least present. Guitar tones have a suitably thick and harsh sound, and the vocals are well-balanced and forceful.

For such a young band, Rise Of Caligula has a pretty good way of making metal. This works in the band's favor; they can grow infinitely because they didn't go too far over the cliff with all of their influences. As I have said in the past, this doesn't feel like a compromise at all. In fact, Rise Of Caligula can probably make four albums of exclusively tech, grind, hardcore, and post rock and get away with it. I wouldn't really want them to. They do well enough on their own and I would like them to expand on their energetic debut with some more cool ideas. If you tire of breakdowns in your hardcore, or excessive scale runs in your tech, get this record.

 Sunday, 15 June 2008 Experimental music has been on my radar recently thanks to this album. Having listened and being underwhelmed by this band's previous two EPs, I was very curious to see if this full-length improved on its predecessors' solid basic formula. I'm confident in saying that 'Mirrored' is one of the finest experimental progressive rock records of all time. Equal parts pop, IDM, math rock, and krautrock, 'Mirrored' is an accessible, varied and ultimately harmonious experience. I basically went into it with a deaf ear and got more than I ever knew I wanted.

Vocals are included in this recording for the first time in Battles' history. However, I still classify it as an instrumental album. The reason being is this: the vocals are just noises and sounds. The lyrics - if there are any - are completely unintelligible and unimportant. The intent of this choice is to add another sound texture to the pot. The vocals are heavily-processed and contrast nicely with the instruments both pre-recorded/looped and studio-recorded. I wish more bands would do the experimental vocal stuff present here; it's neat and very effective.

Mirrored is an album of considerable depth. Not a collection of songs, as some would claim, this record has many things that give a good wrap-around. The tone and quality of the recording is very consistent and clear. The mix between organic and electronic is as seamless as it is profound. Genres swirl in and out of each other effortlessly while providing a balance that's very hard to come by. It's pop music for prog heads. It's ear gourmet for experimental/noise fans. It's like Bobby McFerrin remixed 80s-era King Crimson. It's like Faust listened to Boards of Canada and made another album.

Going into detail of each song would be both boring and pointless. 'Mirrored' is an album to discover on its own terms. I can say that it has made an impact on my musical taste's range. It's an ear-expanding, gate-opening listen. For those who are interested in exploring new feelings and sounds in music, this album remains very accessible for most, yet diverse enough for experienced listeners. It's very rare for a band to do such a thing so well. For jaded prog fans that want something exciting and not stuff that's stuck in 7/4 all the time, 'Mirrored' is that album. Battles took a brave leap here and succeeded wonderfully. Try something that's truly different. Make your music collection more eclectic and interesting. Get this album; take some time with it, and eventually, it will become a mainstay in your music rotation.

 Wednesday, 04 June 2008 History lessons are valuable. It's important to know what things took place before current events to make relevant our present time. This is true for all things: politics, social matters, entertainment, and all forms of art. It can be debated that the past should remain in the past, and that the present is the only time that matters. I can agree with both sides, but given the right circumstances, history might overrule the present. Case in point: Spanish instrumental progressive rock band Jardin de la Croix.

There will always be a market for instrumental music. Some of the world's most revered music is instrumental -classical and jazz- and commonplace in many music libraries both archived and personal. There is a rising scene of atmospheric, progressive rock acts that take to letting their instruments do the singing. Jardin de la Croix builds upon many decades of music and composition to create a record that will set perfectly next to albums by King Crimson and Mogwai.

Jardin de la Croix's first album is a very modest one. I find myself gravitating towards albums that do not force the listener to be actively engaged. Rather, this album weaves tranquil, ornate music with flair of honesty. You may put it on and work in your office, allowing the din to fill the room and not be bothered by any sudden awkwardness. You may also focus on the creative instrumentation and how the different band members play off each others' instruments--much like a jazz band.

This band knows their influences. It's almost like 'Pomeroy' thanks the bands that led to this record's fruition. Unfortunately, there is a small problem with that. Jardin de la Croix makes original music that stands on its own, but the influences run so deep that it's hard to differentiate between what they wholly created and what they loved from bands past. All the songs on this well-balanced album call to memory the works of Porcupine Tree, 80s King Crimson, Dream Theater, Tera Melos, Russian Circles, Fall of Troy, and other modern and past influences. Fans of those bands will feel right at home. Experienced listeners of progressive rock will find something to like here, but might end up turning to their old favorites.

There is nothing at all wrong with this album. In fact, it's remarkable that a band with such young members made a record like this. It is a very solid progressive rock record, and it lends itself nicely to the well-established canon of similar bands. Better yet, the album is available free to download. Visit the band's MySpace page linked above to find it. You need a basic knowledge of Spanish to get through the page, however. This album may not be the most original one on the market, but it is an album born of intense love for progressive rock and making music, and that's something I can say for less than 10% of prog bands around today. Listen to the album and enjoy.

 Sunday, 25 May 2008 The Sawtooth Grin left a mark on the technical metal scene. The NY-based grind band showed not only remarkable playing skill, but also an ear toward disturbing arrangements and creating a scary atmosphere. This mythical, unreleased EP by this band would prove to be the last thing they ever did before breaking up. It's a shame, because I actually prefer this EP over their previous release for a few reasons. First, the songs have more diversity. Second, the production is much better. Third, the vocal performance is more dynamic while maintaining its uniqueness.

It's a very short release with only three songs, but one can tell the immense ambition here. The sludge and death metal influences hinted at on 'Cuddlemonster' are fully realized here. It helps that the mix brings out the bass and vocals more, giving the three songs extra punch; 'Pervavor' is more organic and less caustic-sounding by comparison. That doesn't mean they changed their sound at all. In fact, it's the opposite. The band took the elements that made them amazing in the first place - extreme speed, chaotic structures, shrieking vocals, unpredictability, brutality, and relentlessness - and took some extra study time to perfect them. These three tracks, time-wise, make up half the total running time of their first release . . . and that album had seven songs.

This release remains a far too brief preview of what was looking to be one of the most devastating technical grind monstrosities of all time. Luckily, it can be found on many MP3 dump sites and blogs as well as the unofficial MySpace tribute page linked above. Listen and appreciate it, then go buy Cloacal Kiss' first release on to see what The Sawtooth Grin might have become if they continued.