The only disappointment here is the abysmal band name. It's like some rap artists' dumb attempt to sound cool.
But the music? That's something else altogether.
This Finnish three piece is led by Ulf Skog - songwriter, guitarist, keyboard player, programmer, producer and mixer. Impressed? You should be, he does them all better than most. He's ably assisted by Goran Fellman (ex Stormwing) on lead guitar/vocals and Tomas Ost on bass.
This release has its genesis in the independently released '
Under Destruction' (2005), which attracted many favourable reviews throughout Central
Europe and Japan. The best tracks have been taken from that embryo recording and bolstered with new, improved material.
On the result, '
Devour', Skog and his band have cooked up a superheated mix of industrial strength metal, laced with melody, synth driven techno groove and progrock flavours. It's an almost overwhelming brew, vaguely reminiscent of
Rammstein and maybe Clawfinger, one that never fails to grab your attention, full of visceral thrills and constant surprises.
Most of the tracks are instrumentals, but some have lyrics. Many have simply just one or two half sung, half spoken words. The music speaks for itself.
Standout tracks include '
Fat Chance', which opens with a snarling, snaking riff, then throws in a few shouts before diving headfirst into a maelstrom of doom laden keyboards, bass heavy beats and razorclawed guitar work.
'
Coffin Nails' is all barbed axe workout, hardwired to pounding, primal rhythms.
Openers '
Trust Me' and '
Inflamed' are truly glorious tracks, showing maturity and depth in what is a much maligned genre. On the first, driving keyboards set the pace, closely followed by a crushing riff and a mechanoid vocal. On the second, chainsaw guitars and a brutal bass line set us up for a heavily atmospheric goth styled vocal, biting axe work and soaring synths.
Yet, despite the music's industrial / anarchic tendencies, its all done with an underlying sense of melody. The chord progression on
'Inflamed' would seduce any
AOR fan.
Dare I say it, though you may have to look hard, the whole album has the touch of a man who listens to the Top Forty from time to time.
Kaos Krew - one to watch.
Written by
Brian Friday, October 13, 2006
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