| CD REVIEW Achromatic |
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Band : Achromatic Hey fellahs, did we ever review an Iranian Metal from that country's capitol Tehran before? Well...possibly we did come across a band with ties to Iran, but I'm sure it's a première for UK label Casket Music/ Copro Records! In 2007 the three musically like-minded classmates & friends Milad Khosravi (lead vocals & guitar), Sam Solino (bass & backing vocals) and KhaSh (drums) decided to make some noise of their own, and started the band. Along the way they recruited several people to fill the spot of second guitarist, but no musician with the same musical taste was to be found, yet. Still looking for their illusive fourth member, the guys made their first single “Lies” available through their official website. Then, in 2009, Khosravi met lead guitarist Jack Hazy Turner, and the two quite immediately bonded on a musical and personal level! His joining the band was self-evident, and since then the band started to work on the recording of their debut EP Playground (with one Kim Ravangar aiding the band out as a session member, adding additional backing vocals and chorals). Having finished the recordings for the EP, the band sent it out to the world in search of a label, and eventually signed a deal with Casket Music. According to the info sheet we got along with the promo copy of the album, Achromatic's music “...is best described as Groovy/ Funky Alternative/ Metal which is similar to the sound of some well-known artists such as KoRn, SOAD, Deftones, Sepultura, Muse, Metallica and NIN. The band is currently wórking on their second album...”, and while I applaud the second fact (the guys continuing to make their type of music in a country which is still somewhat averse towards people expressing themselves in ways outside of tradition, is certainly something to be cheerful about), I'm not sure I'm so happy with the comparisons in the first part of that quote. You see, where certain “similarities” can indeed (but only to a point) be found in the music of the first three in the above list of comparisons, and while some vocal similarities dó appear allowing a comparison to the forth (ooh, by the way, thumbs up for the singers' grip on the English language...impossible to tell it's not your native language, guys!, I have no clue as to where the last three come in! Maybe yoù can hear it in what's posted (full-length of the track “Emo”, which also has some piano play in it, and samples of the tracks “Smash” and EP-opener “No Light Shone”) at (www.) myspace.com/achromatic? I wish I could tell you there's more to be found at the band's own website (www.) achromatic-band.com, but I couldn't even enter the site. At any rate, this is a very nice debut indeed, and it sure makes me wonder which ways the band might evolve. I'm actually looking forward to the full-length album, but I'll keep my rating “moderate” for once. 88/100 Tony. |