EXPLICIT by The Immolation Scene
The Immolation Scene from Perth (Western Australia) are absolute masters of building atmosphere, and when they let rip it sounds like your very own personal death is blaring from your headphones. Dark mood, dread infused melodies, evil sounding guitar tones - what more could you want from a punk/metal band?
On their debut EP ‘Explicit‘ the band ambitiously blends different rock styles to create a hypnotic latticework of psychedelic wonder; with writhing bass lines, loud drum beats and shifted vocals featuring heavily throughout the album. The Immolation Scene have chosen to create a heavy soundscape of mind-bending mood pieces with the provocative lyrics. Fans of rock music in general should find plenty to rave about on ‘Explicit‘.
The album's opener, ‘Kill Myself (The Immolation Theme),‘ sounds like a funeral athem: the drums thunder while Alex Hand's vocals tower above. The guitars cut through the middle of the mix like an electric saw, and the only relief is the slow acoustic bridge that descends midway through.
‘Gone‘ is a fast punk track that drips with guitar noise and is driving and effective. The vocals are emotionally heavy and hit you whether you want it to or not. ‘Gone‘ harkens back to the band's strengths, but is also more percussively heavy than the previous song.
‘You Can Rape Me‘ is an aggressive, creepy song with clever hooks, pacey delivery and all merge to create a superb track. The Immolation Scene have managed to bring punk rock to the coroner's lab for further autopsy. After the first listen, I was simply speechless. Because of the level of candor that the group displays. The guitar riffs are just insane. I especially like it when the tempo of the song changes and Alex's vocals sound like the roar of a dying beast.
Don't pass up ‘Less Of You‘ or ‘When I Was A Boy.‘ The first song is pure metal goodness with guitar and bass harmonies that blow your head off, while the second song is a gooey, beautiful mess of grunge and punk that has comparisons to Nirvana's first album.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4yctr2R37fsVXmO3Wzfhy3?si=f79772f06cb64ce1
Everything is where it should be on 'Explicit' and the album sounds professional, yet rough, as the genre demands. I particularly enjoy the gruffness and the compactness of it all: a loud and heavy album with a heavy-rock guitar over a bunch of dirty riffs, insane vocals - there's a spark in the band that connects the whole vision and blurs the lines between yes and no. All I have to say is that this is an exceptional debut that showcases a band I hope to hear a lot more from.
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