Thursday, April 28, 2016

Album Review: "ROT" by Prisoner of War

ROT
Lately there has been a series of debates on the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame and whether or not certain acts should be in.

Personally, my belief is that the RNRHOF is improperly named and should be named the Pop Music Hall of Fame as the genre known as "rock'n'roll" has come and gone.

But it's interesting to consider the roots of music and how we have arrived to the places we are now.

Jimi Hendrix was one of the most amazing musicians of all time and in his very short time in the spotlight amassed a large catalog of work.

What made The Jimi Hendrix Experience so special, in my opinion, is that it wasn't a rock band, a rock'n'roll band, a blues band, or an R&B band, but an amalgamation of all of those genres all at once. The roots ran very deep.

Prisoner of War
Come out of New Zealand, or the arsehole of the world as they call it, we have Prisoner of War.

Prisoner of War has taken three different genres and added them up to create a wholly different sound.

Most times, it only takes one listen for me to be able to write a coherent review (when I'm not on muscle relaxers as I am now), but this group took some time.

Upon first listen, ROT, is black metal. The sounds are dynamic, the guitars have that Northern European brittleness to them, and just that tone that Black Metal delivers oh so very well, but they are not black metal.

As the record goes longer, there's another layer of sound. Those turnaround riffs that Slayer so wonderfully stole from Black Sabbath are there. Think the main riff to Seasons In The Abyss. So now we have elements of first gen and thrash metal creeping in.

The vocals are straight death metal, classic, old school death metal. So where on the Metal Spectrum does Prisoner of War fall?

To be honest, I haven't got a clue, but I will continue listening to see if I can every figure it out. Dynamic songs, plenty of heavy, plenty of variety.

With bits and bobs from all over the metal scene, Prisoner of War is set to take captives of their own.

Release: 5/2/16
Genre: Metal
Label: Iron Bonehead Productions
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2 comments:

  1. This kind of band is my favorite kind, the ones who take multiple genres of music and smash them all together to create a sound that is both unique AND reminds you of other stuff you enjoy. Glad to hear there are still bands like that putting out music. Thanks for the review

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