Yeah OK I admit it I’d never heard of this herd of goats but the name and the self-description of “symphonic grind pop” kinda bleated out at me. They also perform in masks and face paint and call themselves things like The Coachman and The Admiral. No Cheesemaker though. Oh and they’re Italian and from the South Tyrol region which sounds a bit goat orientated to me so…
Well first track ‘Beast’ starts off with a guitar chop that could turn into anything and then a riff (kind of, we’re not exactly talking Conan here) that screams “Emo” to me. So do the vocals; clean cut and very Muse like I guess. None of this sits well with me and when the chorus comes in all angry crying and then back into the riff it might as well be Kerrang TV. I pause. First track. Give it time.
Deep breath. Ok first up this is a truly lovely production for the music; clear and bright and full of life so whoever it was really got the band’s sound. Sorry, nothing in the promo stuff I could find. Second there’s something about the band, and the composition and arrangements including strings and female backing vocals that speaks of class and quality. I mean these here goats certainly know which end of a guitar to start chewing on. Son that is all very good. Back to the music, happy I’m in the hands of quality musicians at least.
Then ‘Scent’ comes on. First track was Muse-ing, this is kind of desperately seeking Sigur Ros. Just not getting there entirely but a reasonable effort I suppose. ‘Thrill’ has a half agitated riff but still not even a sniff of grind anywhere here, although when the chorus comes in maybe my teeth do. It ends up in an indie pop song with maybe half a nod to the softer side of prog like Lonely Robot but not as compelling or heart rending. ‘Attunement’ tries the Lonely Robot thing with more indie but again despite the catchy sound and clear, simple melody and a very nice guitar break something is lacking to drag me in. ‘Kill’ is just back to Kerrang TV and a bit bland.
Right cards in the table; I hate Muse, I have one early Sigur Ros album. I loathe indie. Prog I can manage but it has to be special. I do actually like some pop and electro-pop. I love quiet and gentle. This though.. It really isn’t for me. It’s kind of a square peg round hole situation. But to be positive the band are actually fine musicians and know a clear clean tune when they hear one. The biggest problem is when it reminded me of Sigur Ros I wanted to go and listen to Sigur Ros. When it reminded me of Lonely Robot, I wanted to go and listen to Lonely Robot. When it reminded me of Muse I wanted to leave. There’s pop yes, there’s a slight symphonic echo; there is nothing even close to third cousin twice removed of grind here. Indie pop prog-lite, maybe. Just. No. Grind. I have listened to this over and over again, I really tried but I just couldn’t get away from that which really saddens me.
If you know someone into indie with a melodic poppy bent, then yeah, tell them to give this lot a go as they are good at that. Especially if they don’t mind it sailing close to the lighter simpler edges of prog (and there’s nothing wrong with the simpler edges at all.) If you know someone glued to Kerrang TV then make them listen to it because it is way, way better than half the stuff in there.
But for me, here, at Ave Noctum, sorry but it’s a no. Really sorry.
(4/10 Gizmo)
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