| CD REVIEW Shizoey |
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Band : Shizoey From the band’s page at MySpace (taken over as official statement by the label, and corrected where necessary to meet – higher – Concrete Web standards; between brackets are my own additions ): This is the debut album of the trio (consisting of guitarist Bernd Wehinger and bassist Daniel Vonbun whore share lead vocal duties, plus drummer Marcel Bell), located in Voralmberg, Austria – through their 12 songs they present a “timeless” and atmospheric crossover Heavy Rock album, with various other influences, like Grunge, ‘90s Hardcore, but also ‘70s US Westcoast feelings. Their brilliant guitar work, featuring partly Classical vibes and Flamenco style, is combined with haunted, wild scream attacks and inconventonal slanting melodies – all served with a unique self composed sound, and great artwork (euh…don’t see where the music has anything to do with the artwork, but well…). Shizoey creates its own one-of-a-kind Blood Rock For Your Soul/ Shizo-Rock and also takes you on a psychedelic journey with songs like “Oriental Dream” (strictly speaking, an instrumental is not a song, as singing is required, but a track). On stage they are ready for the ultimate Rock ‘n’ Roll party combined with a lot of fun to set the audience on fire with their passionate energy…taking them back to the good old ‘70s wah-wah Blues Rock veins but also into today! So far the official infos. I’m not sure when the band was founded, but they should go back a couple of years already, seen as they already participated (to positive response from both audience and press) to the late Summer 2008 Transmitter Festival. I’ve no idea of how busy the band members have been kept performing either, but I happen to know that in June 2009 they were given the opportunity to support Sevendust. With the album already out for a while (hey, we cannot help it if stuff is sent to us with some delay…at least you get an honest review in return, right?), there’s already been some reviews (posted in the blogs at myspace.com/shizoey666, and the band’s only official site), but I must say I can only agree to some degree with that of Lordsofmetal.com (the other one simply took the info at hand for granted and made it an easy job, the lazy bum). So here’s my own assessment… First, for the album’s strong points there’s the music itself , expressed to the fullest in the album’s instrumentals (namely the album opening “Intro”, album closing…you got it?…”Outro”, and the excellent, nicely extended Psychedelic & Oriental flavoured “Oriental Dreams”). What you get is Blues drenched Hard Rock, frequently gearing towards a Heavy Rock, with elements from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s Psychedelic genre. And while the wah-wah is an important instrument to invoke that feeling in sóme moments (check intro of “St. Anton” – wacky Funk feel, uh?, and there’s also the intro of “Dead Baby”), it is more the way the guitar is played (rhythmic passages alternating with leads of a certain style – you gotta hear it to recognize it, really) than anything else. In the songs that see the vocalists (often sing together) do their stuff in a screamed style, you get that added Punky feel...well, alright, for the sake of the band’s own biography, let’s put that down to the “’90s Hardcore” bit. And sure, there’s a couple of more straight-forward tracks (such as “Loco” with added Spanish lyrics, “Dead Baby”) which incorporate the Post-Hardcore sounds of the late ‘80s. The track “Shizoey” also incorporates a bit of Ska, but the vocal rendition is somewhat below the album’s usual level. And, would you know, here and there, a somewhat Flamenco-influenced guitar passage indeed pops up (check “Black Stones”), and there’s even somewhat of a tango feel (of the heavy type) to the short “In My Dreams”. The Classical touch they talk about? Well, just check out the intro and song structure of “Empty Eyes”. The downside of the album is the production which, if it had been better, would’ve lifted the sound of the album to current-day levels of intensities. Also the singers are no divas, and while on most songs they bring off their jobs perfectly (keeping in mind already the above), they should be careful of “artistic liberty” when trying to make sentences rhyme with each other. I mean, the language in “Flow” really leaves to be desired (“Where are you go”, what’s that about, just to make the sentence rhyme with “flow”?), has the song dismissed right off (in spite of it’s melodic qualities), and suddenly leaves an ugly “accent mark” on the album. I mean, once you’ve heard that track, you’ll start listening with a different (and negative) ear during a next session! In fact, the album would’ve been better off without that track altogether (the alternative would be to simply change the word “are” with “do”, of course)! Harsh, you say? Check it out for yourself: the track is one of the 6 posted (alongside the delicious instrumentals “Oriental Dreams” – not by chance the one the band opens the music player with – and “Outro”, as the last in the player). End conclusion: an album that needs to be listened to several times before one can go beyond the obvious positives (the instrumentals) and negatives (“Flow”)…and really start appreciating the other songs on the album. Still, as long as the band leaves “Flow” out of its set-list, I’m sure the people who’ll happenstance across one of this band’s live appearances (hey, and why don’t they have more gigs during the Summer?) will be enjoying what they get served! In October the band is reaching outside their native Austria for gigs in Italy, Germany…and Belgium (they’re to play at Eemegem’s Club B52 on Oct. 22). 84/100 Tony. |