| CD REVIEW Illuminatus |
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Band : illuminatus Hah...I might've come in contact with illuminatus (apparently hàs to be written with a small opening “i”) before, if not for the fact that the people at Casket Music/ Copro Records for some reason had decided to not send us the promo material. Means I have to give you the whole story of this band...as far as I can retrieve it, of course. As far as I know, the Manchester based British band was formed in 2001 by singer/ guitarist Julio Taylor, guitarist Jonathan Martin, keyboardist Dave Crosby, bassist Mark Freestone, and drummer Felix Rullhusen. In 2007 the band made it into the finals of international talents showcase Famecast(featuring hundreds of bands from around the world), resulting in the band being flown to Austin, Texas...where they performed live to an audience of millions of television viewers, earning the band an unprecedented exposure in the US and beyond. Prior to the release of the band's debut full-length album The Wrath Of The Lambs through Ant Hill Records in 2008, illuminatus had already released the 2002 3-track EP Suburban Symmetry (on their own) and the 3-track 2004 EP Aborted Revolutions (through Dangerous Media), for which they had gotten comparisons to the likes of Anathema, Paradise Lost, Deftones, and Cult Of Luna. Also, before the album's recordings the keyboardist had been dropped, and one Leo Giovazzini had taken over bass playing duties...making the line-up consistent of one Spaniard, one German, one Italian, and one English gent (oofff...that was one long sentence to read in one breath, wasn't it?). The January 2008 release was followed by great reviews, tracks being played on Bruce Dickinson's BBC6 Rock Show and TotalRock Radio, and the band playing a heavy schedule of gigs, which included a participation in the UK leg of Ministry's May/ June 2008 tour, My Ruin's UK and Ireland tour in October 2008, and playing support to Breed77 and Susperia's tour in May of 2009. Also in 2009 the band not saw their debut album re-issued through Casket Music/ Copro Records, but also released a new EP (the 3-track-plus-acoustic-bonus The Rising Tide) in September, recorded with Therapy?'s Adam Sinclair. So, in effect this release is my introduction to the band, and I'm afraid I'm only moderately enthousiastic about it! Apparently the new album was ready by June of 2010, and apparently the band was expecting it to be released “later in the year”. Well, enough details, over to the music...which is a very nice melodic Metal with light-progressive touches, but razor-sharp guitar play! Overall there's a mid-pace speed on the songs, the title track opener a slightly faster. To me personally, the music is certainly not bad, but overall nothing is really risked, and the band plays safe throughout. Making up somewhat, is the lead singer's nice hoarse voice, which really soars when he puts some volume behind it. Certainly a good release, and I'll be the first to admit that not only do the guys have a potential single hit with said title track, but that there's also other real nice tracks on the album...but to me personally the music is simply to meanstream-geared! I'm sorry to have to be so coarse, but that's how I feel about illuminatus. Of course, you are absolutely free to have and voice your own opinion. In fact, if the above comparisons speak to you...and you don't mind getting a truly special singer on top...I strongly recommend you check out the band music. At (www.) myspace.com/illuminatusuk, you'll currently only find the radio edit of one of the album's tracks (nay, nót “Glasnost”), but there's also the 2009 EP's versions of “Cave In” and “Red”...and the other songs posted will give you confirmation of what this band is about! In spite of my seeming negativity, I'll still rate the album a good 88/100 Tony. |