| CD REVIEW Koi |
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Band : Koi The nucleus for this Swedish band was formed in 2001, when guitarist/ singer Patrik Andersson and drummer Markus Mönttinen smashed their heads together in one of Gothenburg’s suburbs, and came up with the spontaneous idea to start a band together. But the idea remained in the infantile stages, the two making up band names like 13itter and creating clever logos to go with ‘em. A short while after Andersson started another project with guitarist Eemu Ranta, borne out of the two competing against each other in playing Metallica song with the least fuck-ups. It was almost inevitable that the two projects would eventually merge with each other and then, through a variety of school projects, along came bassist Joni Kaartinen and eventually keyboardist/ pianist Roberd Palm…and Koi took its shape! Starting out as a pure Metal act, the quintet very soon saw the advantages of not being restricted by any musical boundaries, and with a guideline to surprise themselves in the first place, they started to develop the songs we can now hear on their 2009 full-length demo-album! To start with, let me tell you something about each bandmember’s rather diverse musical influences, okay? You see, the bassist has a wide variety of influences, going from Melodic Death Metal (At The Gates, Akercocke, Enslaved,…) to more Progressive Extreme Metal (Cult Of Luna, Mastodon, Meshuggah, Opeth), but also has interest in classic Progressive Rock acts (such as Yes and Pink Floyd), classic Metal (Uriah Heep, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Led Zeppelin, Motörhead), Thrash Metal (Metallica, Slayer, Sepultura), and other modern Metal acts (Tool, Devin Townsend, Pain Of Salvation). The keyboardist’s list includes some of the classics (Yes and Rick Wakeman - kinda goes together, plus Focus) and evidently some of the other big keyboardists (Jon Lord, Jordan Rudess). He’s also into “somewhat” Progressive bands (Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Pain Of Salvation, Beardfish, Devin Townsend, Opeth) and has some oddballs on his list (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tenacious D), but also has a few more aggressive acts on his list (Meshuggah, Arch Enemy). Ranta’s list is far shorter, only including Opeth, Yes, Ulver, and Beardfish. Mönttinen is prrobably the most extreme element in the band, but although the majority of his influences are of the heavier type (Meshuggah, Gojira, Katatonia, Cult Of Luna, Anata) he also likes somewhat “calmer” stuff (Opeth, Radiohead, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, deftones, and Portishead!). Finally, Andersson’s influences are perhaps the most linear with bands like Audiogramme, Oceansize, Radiohead, Porcupine Tree, Kent, Explosions In The Sky, Mew, Jon Brion, and Nobuo Uematsu…but let’s not forget that he started out competing to play Metallica songs with Eemu! Yet the end result of the bandmembers’ cross-breeding has grown into something which I’ve found kinda resembles a crossing between King Crimson and RPWL…but with a few differences. In the calmer moments the band’s music almost gets an Ambient quality. Then, when the guitars pick up distortion, they get a somewhat more modern sound than RPWL’s. What they dó have in common with both bands, is the somewhat…sedate?…vocal approach. Still, there’s moments when the lead singer sees himself backed by not just one, but by two counterpoint harmony backing singers. Something the guys may have taken from influencial bands, is that they’ve worked In Tomorrow Hid Yesterday as a concept album. For an explanation, please check out the band’s website koiband.net (in short, it’s about how “society” pressures people into certain behavior…but the story the band gives is more complete). Halfway the track-list the guys decided to throw in the short (only 49 seconds in length) instrumental “Eventide”, and before getting into album closer “Less Than Abstract”, the boys bring two more short instrumentals. The first one, titled “Metamorphosis” (84 seconds), follows the non-instrumental “Breaking Of The Day” quite seemlessly with the album’s most “violent” bridge…and is in itself the perfect bridge towards the calmer “Swaying To Sleep” (42 seconds, and if I’m not mistaken featuring one Pia Henoch on cello). Somehow, the heavier part of the album is still in that second half of the track-list though. At myspace.com/koichannel, you can listen to each and every sóng on the album…meaning the guys have nót posted the 3 short instrumentals. You’ll hear the evident quality of the music and sound (the band spent a fortune financing a year’s worth of recordings), and I’m sure any fans of early King Crimson will want one of the 800 hard copies the band has had made available late February 2010…so hurry up ordering your copy, because it’s a one-time print only! In conclusion, I’d like to stress out to the band that when sending out (download) promo copies of your album, it is important not to mis-spell your bandname at the top of the page (I actually tried to get info on a band called Kio’s, because the head of page mentions “Biography: Kio’s”, you know!), and àlways put your contact adresses in your bio! Beyond that little criticism, I daresay the album is grr-eat! Of the year-list quality, as far as I am concerned!!! 98/100 Tony. |