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Archived Reviews
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If there were ever any doubts concerning the debt that Anthony Mather owes to Johan Van Roy then this latest Tactical Sekt album will lay them all to rest. Virtually every note that makes up this album acts like a direct homage to the Belgian master with any individual ideas being few & far between & once the opening title track sets the musical template it doesn't stray very far from it, either. So while it doesn't score particularly highly in terms of either individuality or variety there are still enough good tracks to make it worth a listen with the September 11th-inspired "American Me" & the self-explanatory "Beslan" both proving their worth with a hard-hitting sound, although any emotion that the events might have inspired are kept well & truly hidden. The real highlights, though, come in the form of "Dark Sky", where the overall dark mood is enhanced by the melodics that grace the chorus & the duo of "Awaken The Ghost (Final Awakening)" & "Bring Me Violence", where the ultra-pounding rhythms help take the potent musical cocktail to new heights of power & unrelenting aggression, being offset just slightly by more tense melodic touches in the latter case & it's an effective touch that works almost as well in boosting the otherwise no-frills "4 Steps To Dysfunction" although "Not Going To Work That Way" proves to be an OK rather than outstanding piece, not really lingering long in the mind once it's over. Overall, the album does provide a solid & reliable listen with some fine tracks to its credit although a greater degree of individuality (Psyclon Nine & Life Cried have both shown how this can be done) would have made a lot of difference in boosting this above many of its ilk & while there are a number of individual touches that show a lot of promise the album as a whole doesn't quite 'cut it' as I'd hoped it might. Having said that, the voice samples that crop up at the beginning of "You're Fired" (inspired by Alan Sugar perhaps?) are certainly an eye opener (just what is the deal with the whole gorgonzola/brie thingie?), making a change from the usual & if the music could have followed suit more often then this album would have been all the better for it. |
