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| Into The Empty |
It's really been a long time since it's been a going concern. Certainly we are heading towards a world featuring Nu-Grunje right?
Perhaps one might consider how bands like Soundgarden and Alice In Chains influenced elder bands like Kiss which then in turn showed that stone out of their minds metal could be a thing?
There's probably not a single person reading this who's not already come to this conclusion and I'm just terribly late to the party.
But in the interest of honesty and clarity... I think Soundgarden (post Superunknown) sucks and that Alice In Chains (post formation) sucks.
I just do not enjoy these bands' music. Years after the Grunge vs Metal wars of the 90's, I revisited both of them and my opinions did not change. Though, my heart did soften to Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine (if they matter in this conversation).
The interconnectedness of the world has taken the local scene and sent it two hemispheres away. Oz is in both the Eastern and Southern Hemispheres.
I've heard that the Eastern hemisphere is the dancingest hemisphere in the world, but it's summer time at Christmas down in the Southern Hemisphere...so seriously?
Also snakes.
Anyhoo.... on to the tracks right?
So, yeah, there's a really big Soundgarden influence. Being a veteran of the genre wars back in the day and still angry at Kim Thayill for saying he hoped he wasn't metal... I'm a bit touchy when it comes to their name.
But Thayill can say whatever he wants about which scene his band belongs to or what he does or doesn't like. What it doesn't change is that Soundgarden, at times in their career, were straight up metal.
But what if a band doesn't wanna play Outshined or Blow Up The Outside World and still want to hold onto to that connection? First off, they slowed the music down to a comparative funeral march. This allows the vocals hectares of space in which to explore.
This only works if the vocalist has a set of pipes that could hose down a building fire and thankfully he does. It's rare to have a thirty second plus scream that goes on for so long I began wondering if the record was stuck, but damn did it fit just right.
Then there's those guitar licks. When's the last time you heard a heavy band having harmony lines twixt the two melodic forces, who presumably hate each other a bit?
It's been a hot minute for me anyway.
On the plus side, if the aforementioned is a negative in your mind, there are lengthy, free flowing guitar solos as well. They're the kind of solo that lack structure in a way that make me wonder if he can reproduce them live, but they flow so well that it's hard to really care.
This particular review was a bit uncommon as the band requested to submit a record for a vinyl review and not the other way around. When I pitch these reviews, I always sample a track or two to make sure it's something I enjoy. (Yes there have been times when I was wrong and went back and bought albums later that I turned down...)
Without that sampling, I was concerned about about this one. Into The Empty is a very small run and paid for DIY... I do this in order to help people find new music and not piss on what's being done out there...but... I am honest.
I'm ever so thankful that this was something that I really got into. I've spun it four or five times in preparation of this write up. But for future reference, I'm going to call this kind of music Grudge Metal.
Get it?
Now, the disc is a smooth 180 Gram vinyl slab that sounded great on my home system and my office system. (Yeah, it was played in both locales.) Great dynamic range and NO NOISE.
Mine came with a patch, not sure if that's the norm or not, see the unboxing video for more.
Check this record out...you'll be glad you did.
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