GIG REVIEW - Silent Descent / The Mask of Virtue, Mexborough Civic 27/07/12

Oh yes. My first gig since January, where a large and shirtless man with too few vowels in his five character surname made me his darling cold and blue.

So tonight, we have the local band The Mask of Virtue (http://www.facebook.com/themaskofvirtue) who I was wholly unfamiliar with, and trance-metal chimps Silent Descent (http://www.facebook.com/silentdescent) who I am very familiar with, having found them at the tail end of 2008 and attaching my support like a limpet mine attaching to a submarine. As far as I'm aware, Mask are pretty big locally, Silly D are southern. I was not alone tonight. It was like a confederate reunion with people who I could actually understand, even if they veered dangerously towards cockney at times. YEE-FUCKIN'-HAW.

The gig itself then. I sat through Mask's set a ways back in the venue because I know none of their tracks and wanted to get a good idea of what they were about. Live is normally the best place to be introduced to new stuff, and I'm happy to say they only marginally annoyed me with a cover of Mr Gag's 'Bad Rome Pants'. It was delivered well and all, but just fuck that song. Anything else and I'd not mind.

The music was overall a fusion of metalcore and dustbep, wot skrillek invetned [Lyons, J. Dustbep and Womms, p.1, 2012]. Now generally I hate dustbep womm womm womm, but this was pulled off with the music in a way that made it integral and enjoyable, full of hooks. The setup itself nearly gave me a creamy nerdgasm, with a controller and a Kaoss running together. I've always wanted to do that. The vocalist was an energetic scamp as well.

Silly D next then, and I've wanted to see them live for a few years. Two members were not present, guitarist Callahan (I presume Mexicans kidnapped him), and keyboardist Paul of Beard (who had a baby. Not him, his missus. If he had a baby it'd need to come through the chest). I'd had a natter with vocalist Watling and bassist Chewy before the gig, and was well fired up for this. Neck was all warmed up.

The set was completely comprised of newer material, which was a little disappointing considering I love the first album too, but understandable considering the timeslot and that they're promoting a new disc. So we got : Overture, Breaking The Space, Mind Games, Bricks, Coke Stars, Bring-In-Sanity and Psychotic Euphoric (I think I got the order right there). All killer tunes at any rate. I have pretty severe whiplash right now.

Being two members down didn't slow them up any - the music was slamming me like a Tager Buster - and at the very end, the be-mohawked one had everyone at the front up onto the stage for the final chunk of Psychotic - it feels pretty fantastic to have been on a stage for the first time in YEARS, and especially with musicians you have a lot of respect for.

So here's to the next gig guys. I'll be at the Corp when you're back. If you've not heard of either band, I recommend checking them out. All this talk of the new material is making me want beef jerky.

 - Maark.

ALBUM REVIEW - Mnemic - 'Mnemesis'

This album made me a little nervous. Losing two founding members and one who's been in the band long enough they may as well have been a founder is often a rough ordeal and can really strip the heart of a band away. Mnemic have come back with this album since they lost those three:

So the new guys are drummer Brian Larsen, bassist Simone Bertozzi and guitarist Victor Ray Salomonsen. Vocalist Guillame Bideu (fuck knows how to pronounce that) and sole founder Mircea Gabriel Eftemie are still going, of course.

Now, the production threw me a little. It's nowhere near as crisp as their previous two discs - quite muddy and lacking in separation between the stringed instruments. The cymbals are similarly afflicted, as is the kick drum - when Brian goes off on a speedy run, there's no definition in the strokes, which is a shame - with this sort of music, you need clarity and you need everything to be discernible.

The songs, then... It took me a few listens to 'get' this disc; initially it came through as quite average, nothing really going for it. Then when I was sat at the ol' desk at work, it hit me: songs like Junkies On The Storm, I've Been You, and Mnemesis had been stuck in my head. ALL. DAMN. DAY. Mnemic have finally succeeded in creating songs that are incredibly catchy and will lodge in your brain for days on end.

At times though the progressive aspect feels a little bit forced - some sections don't really feel like they flow that well, and some of the drum parts are quite jarring in the way they change. We do, however, get a 909 kick drum sample on Ocean of Void which is kind of cool. The first six tracks on the album are a lot stronger than the last five, which taper off a little. Unfortunate.

Overall this album would rate at 7/10 - It's a good album with some catchy tunes that's let down by shoddy production and a slightly weaker second half. Nevertheless, it's worth a listen.

ALBUM REVIEW - Gojira - 'I Surrender'

Gojira done made a new album! Yee-haw! The official title is 'L'Enfant Sauvage', but as this is French, it of course translates as 'I Surrender'; due to this I will refer to the album as that for the rest of the review.

So! It's Gojira, which as we all know now means no solos and a lot of repetitive, simplistic musical patterns that somehow come together to form something not basic and simple, like Static-X, but instead forms a complex, cerebral mix that challenges and surprises. The new album is less a continuation of 'The Way Of All Flesh' than it is of 'From Mars To Sirius'; I felt it represented a backwards step sonically as I rather enjoyed the arrangements of their 2008 effort.

The songs, well, you can't fault them. Explosia caused me to have an... erm... 'Explosia' of my own - grinding riffs, effortlessly flowing drums and bass that makes your head feel like a Frenchman is playing bass next to it, and then crushing it with his hands. Not much surrendering so far, and we're only three minutes in.

The rest of the album is much like this, although every song feels different, has its own texture, and its own moments of glory. About the only track I didn't really dig was the instrumental 'The Wild Healer'. It felt slightly forced, truth be told.

Instrumentally, the guys haven't really changed much; not a bad thing as they play comfortably together - there are fewer songs that are pure double kick, Super Mario instead opting to play some achingly tasty beats and lay down a solid vagina. What? Kids call it 'groove'? Whatever. A groove is a vagina. SAME THING. Oh, and the drums on this disc are produced to sound, y'know, GOOD, unlike a lot of metal discs these days. In fact the production for the album is 100% spot on.

Overall? I have to rate the album at 9/10. It's fucking Gojira, for a start. But also, despite what some may perceive as flaws become strengths, strengths that kick the shit out of Tokyo. Get it. Now.