The artist behind this debut album makes no pretence that he is doffing his cap to bands that have had an impact on him, among them Testament, Strapping Young Lad, Slayer, Annihilator, Pantera and Meshuggah. Martijn Balsters, the artist in question behind Bow, is well connected himself and has called in guest performances on the album from members of The Monolith Deathcult, Lucifericon and the aforementioned Annihilator.
As the title suggests, the album deals thematically with the more sinister aspects of city life. The opener is the title song. Sirens sound. The song and the album begin dramatically, before we are launched into a frenetic thrashing riff. All Martijn needs is a megaphone to air his observations to the wider world. Instead of taking off however the song closes, which is a pity as I was just getting into it. Maybe someone shouting about traffic lights and neon signs excites me and I didn’t realise it. “Keep the pace, win the race” is the cynical message. The beginning of “Insomniac” could be the start to a Mercenary track, which is fine by me. Here we take a drive through the city and that, apart from the toe-tapping riff is its strength: mobility. The vocals are paradoxically clean and raucous. I’m not sure if I like them or not. Martijn tells us a tale almost rock-opera style without seemingly caring about being harmonious but let me repeat: this is mobile and exciting. The instrumental work is pulsating. The hard rock vibe continues into “Black Dog Liberation”, but with a nice sinister twist and shuffling drums, supported by the vocals which range from a bluesy style to dominant distant didactics. Whilst I appreciated that this is a representation of a cynical world, and it doesn’t ever call for soft vocals, it seemed to me that too much effort had gone into their effects. But it’s an enjoyable and dynamic album nevertheless.
“Trader” begins with an air of mystery – I half expected a Middle Eastern touch – but mirroring “City Race”, it’s thrash time. “Talk and trade with me, open the trap, walk to hell with me, don’t look back” dictates Martijn through his imaginary megaphone. I love the energy of this one, and to boot we can all participate by singing along to the chorus. “Hey you, I am the new Messiah” pumps out Martijn, reminding me of something between the lead on a London West End show and The Who’s “Tommy”. What is different is the instrumental wizardry – a great deep metal rhythm this time, transforming tempos and a sublime guitar solo. Again the chorus lends itself to audience participation as the vocals double up to reinforce the message. “The Terminal” starts in blood-pumping fashion and so it continues, dragging us along willingly. There is a purity in the riffage, as the song drives forward at pace, switching intriguingly to a mysterious section to close. Here’s where inexperience crept in, I thought: instead of surprising us with such a stark contrast and then closing the track, this section would have worked better as the meat in the sandwich. It seemed a case of “we’ve come up with this good idea, well add that in and end it there”. It was like not finishing a tasty meal. No time to waste however, as another melodic, forward-driving heavy metal riff is thrust at us in the form of “First Ten Weeks”. Briefly there is a hardcore gang style chorus, and again Martijn’s messages are reinforced by a collective chorus. Most memorable though, as is the case throughout the album, is the solidity of the instrumentals and the excitement that they generate. Spoken vocals enter the dramatic scene, which ends suddenly. I didn’t really get that. The driving force continues with “The Godly Trap”, a song which I knew by virtue of having seen the video of it – worth checking out as an introduction to the band, I suggest. It has all the good qualities of this album – relentless forward-driving, toe-tapping motion, stellar guitar work, pleasingly heavy and sheer energy and life. In concept and structure, it’s simpler than some of the others and that helps it. I loved the start-stop of “Gap” – a little experiment that really worked for me. This time the relentless metal energy is present, interrupted by a drawn-out chorus and a moody slower section, before ramping up. The ideas are there without doubt. I just wonder if they are exploited enough, especially when there are so many in one song. Next up is “Border”. “Face your fears, fight them and come back again”, exhorts Martijn and his Bow mates. This one is different. Chugging guitar and magical swathes of heaviness and sound manipulation bring a new level of power and excitement to this album. A dark pulse penetrates “Towards the Sun”. A series of voices can be heard along with lapping waves and birds singing. Out of the blue after all that has gone before there is an acoustic song. What I gleaned from this was the positive and warm message – “your future is bright” – after all the urban cynicism which precedes it. It’s another twist in the tail on an album with many twists.
A lot of thought and imagination has gone into the composition of this work. “City Race” is unremittingly intense. I’m not convinced that it always strictly works however because Martijn seems keen to ram home the theme and rush his multitude of musical ideas through in a short space, to the point where the ideas can be underdeveloped and there can be a disconnection from the excellent instrumentals. Structurally it’s a bit rough at the edges without actually being incoherent. But there’s no faulting the energy of the album. One thing I did get out of this apart from the obvious commitment and creativity was a real sense of fun in spite of the cynical theme, which Martijn conveys vividly. “City Race” is an infectious whirlwind of an album, and I enjoyed it very much.
(7.5/10 Andrew Doherty)
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