ALBUM REVIEWS
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ALBUM REVIEWS |
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Pitchblend
THE LINES OF UNREASON SUGAR SHACK RECORDS 18.2.08 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk You know what this reminds me of? The short-lived but much-missed My Vitriol. It’s the multi-layered wall of guitars and the ever-rising sense of melodic direction. A sense of impending doom and mysterious, portentous vocals add to the similarities. That’s not to say that Pitchblend aren’t their own band but they come with impeccable influences. This one has had a lot of plays here at Vanguard Towers as we renew our love of Prog. Make no mistake about it, dress it in Goth clothes if you like and add some alienation but this is Prog Rock dressed up in black. Getting in James Loughery, who worked with My Vitriol helps explain some of the sound and this is sound that has a lot of time spent on it. The wall of guitars is worthy of Phil Spector and the drums are thick and solid. The vocals seem to come from a parallel dimension, just a step to the side of the one the rest of the band are in. In short – I like it lots. There is a great sense of atmosphere and mood here, the songs flowing from one to another and reaching peaks of monstrous heaviness before easing into sweeping choruses and clouds of ringing guitar chords. To be honest, despite repeated plays, I never focussed much on the lyrics, just allowing snippets to grab me while the waves of sound washed over me. And wash over me, they did because I kept turning it up till I was having a sonic shower Casting all critical cool aside – if you like rock, hard rock, modern metal, emo or prog at all, you really owe it to yourself to give this a try. www.pitchblend.com |