Band : 12 Ton Method

Album title : The Art Of Not Falling

Label : Copro

Distributor : PHD

Release date : 17/03/2008

Release : CDEP (4 tracks)

When their former band Needleye came to its demise in late 2006 (after having been together in some form or other since 1999 – it actually started as a studio project by guitarist Duncan Wilkinson a year earlier but became a band when demand for live play increased –, shifting from an Industrial Metal towards a more commercial one...and having released their first full-length album only months before), the band's originator Duncan Wilkinson and bassist Roy Holroyd decided then and there that the break-up would not mean the end of their colaboration.

The duo spent the next couple of months experimenting with different compositional ideas, and ended up back where Ray 's heart is, which is with Arnold Schoenberg 's "12 tone method" from the 1920s (also known as Serialism or Dodecaphony). They then began writing material using Roy 's updated version of Schoenberg 's originally rather dissonant sounding method. Ray had founded a Metal name by the name of 12 Ton Method back in 2004, in order to promote the compositional method which he believed to be the true origin of Metal, and it's under this bandname that the duo decided to further their musical lives.

The band uses the 12 tone method in their music with the premise that Metal was born in 1923. How do they explain that? In their own words: "Well, when defining the genre of Metal you must first ask the question: what makes music Metal? The answer? Dissonance and extremity! Now, when was music at its most dissonant and extreme? 1923! And, who took it to that climax? Arnold Schoenberg ! Therefore, Metal was born in 1923, and Arnold Schoenberg is the real Godfather of Metal!"...somewhat simplistic, isn't it? Because you could just as easily make the same premise about Varese and a couple of other composers of that era. Let's forget all together that technology was not up to par yet, and unable to add the typical distortion and brutality to the sounds of a guitar, needed to make music Metal, eh? Anyways...seems that Schoenberg 's music held quite a bit of violence on top of the dissonance as well, which is one of the reasons why his music was scorned...should be interesting to seek out some of his compositions, I guess!

Flashback!...to Summer 2006: while Needleye were recording their Ode To None album, they recruited former At The Gates , The Haunted and Cradle Of Filth drummer Adrian Erlandsson for drum duties, the celebrated skinsman effectively becoming the band's drummer for a while. Another flashback (or should I say, a short step forward in time?)...to February 2007: Duncan sends an early version of the track "Mark My Words" to Adrian , the latter immediately knowing he needed to get involved in 12 Ton Method in some way or other, and uttered his wish to be included in the proceedings. The band then recruited the services of the young but very talanted bassist Joe Copcutt , and together they set about recording (at Holroyd 's own London based Royd Studios ) the three tracks which were to be comprised in this EP. Regretfully Erlandsson had made earlier commitments and had to bow out after the Summer's recording sessions. The band then started looking for a new skinsman, but found none too quickly. Finally, in November, they found a brave young drum prodigy capable enough to take over where Erlandsson had left, in the form of one Pat Lundy . Shortly after the band started shopping their demo around to several labels, finding more right-out refusals than polite "thank you, but no"-'s. Copro however came with an offer the band simply could not refuse, and after several e-mails and a meeting a deal was closed.

So, how does the modern version of the Twelve Tone Method sound? Very much like a modern Industrial Metal, I suppose! Check it out for yourselves by surfing to myspace.com/12tonmethod, where the band posted the EP opening "Crucify Me (Op.2)" . As far as the vocals go, I'd say 12TM is definitely more melodic (or less extreme, if you prefer that choice of words) than Duncan 's previous band (check myspace.com/needleye for comparitive needs), even if the backing singer occasionally goes just as deep and growling as the lead singer, besides bringing his cleaner backings. On top of the 3 normal studio tracks...oh, I forget to tell you that Duncan has in the past produced remixes of tracks for such artists as Bent USA , Chemlab , Dope Stars Inc. , Interlock , Leech Woman , The Aggression , The Shizit , and others (also under the name of Needleye )...and so he decided to give "Crucify Me" a remix job. With strings and harp composed, orchestrated and programmed by Holroyd the track, re-titled "Skin The Saviour" , is simplified in structure; taking out a lot of the vocals and concentrating on just the few lines ("You crucify me" being the most dominant, and of course slightly re-worked as well), he's digitalized the drums to a more synthetic sound which goes extremely well with the other synth sounds and melodies, and threw in a couple of visceral riffs on top to keep the track from being categorized into the pure Electro Industrial genre. Although the normal studio tracks are great enough in their own right, it's the additional remix which convinced me of this band's qualities as songwriters.

As far as I'm concerned, any composer(s) who can re-build one of his(their) own songs into something quite different is(are) a cut above the rest, and as long as 12TM continues to throw in a couple of re-mixes into their recorded works, they'll find a fan in me! We'll have to see what a full-length will bring, but at the moment I àm inclined to put this EP into my year-lists under "Most Impressive Debut EPs of 2008"!

98/100

Tony.