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Archives for June 18, 2008

The Durango Riot – Telemission

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The Durango Riot is a four-piece rock band from Sweden, the band combines straight up rock with elements of punk and psychedelic also in order to provide for an extremely full and well rounded sound. ‘Telemission’ is the bands debut album and was released through Fuzzorama Records on October 8th 2007. For a debut record this truly is excellent, few bands manage to attain such excellence with a first album but always here ‘Telemission’ is greatly impressive.

What I like most about this album is the energy with which the band progresses through the eleven tracks on display here, never is there a dull moment and always in fact the music has much to offer. There is a terrific level of power contained within the guitar riffs, the drumbeats also are strong and the bass lines come pounding at all points of this release. The vocal tone of The Durango Riot also is strong, the vocals are sung with a distinct Swedish accent and always they seem to come howling out of the mouth of the bands singer Fred.

From the opening static sound of first track ‘Dirty Needs’ right through to the closing static sound of title track ‘Telemission’ always the album has much to offer the listener. The energy levels always are kept high and every track on this album is incredibly catchy and absolutely excellent to sing and dance along to. Instrumentally the music is pretty much perfect and the same can be said of the vocal performance also. The album is packed full of powerful excitement and every element of the sound here is supremely strong and never in the slightest bit disappointing. Throughout this album there are a number of excellent guitar solos, frequent use is also made of a harmonica and whatever the band throws into the mix you always know that the sound created is going to be very much a successful one.

There are many changes of pace here, the tempo is constantly changing; you have slower tracks such as ‘(Rama Lama) Midnight Haze’, the terrific speed of ‘Dirty Needs’ and every pace in between also. You never know quite what is coming next and this therefore adds to the overall excitement of the album, the pace goes up and down all the time and never can you know exactly what to expect next. With this debut album The Durango Riot more than proves that it is a band that is more than capable of doing things fast, slow, or mid-paced also; this album contains every tempo going and never does the band sound to be at all out of its depth.

If you’re looking for an energetic album of rock then look no further than this ‘Telemission’ release from The Durango Riot. This album truly is excellent, and the fact that it’s a debut album makes it all the better. I believe that with time this band will actually grow, flourish, and become even greater; already the bands music has much to offer but I just feel that when album number two arrives it will somehow be even greater than this one. The psychedelic elements thrown into the mix here really do work well, this adds energy and depth to the sound and always the music created on this ‘Telemission’ album is incredibly fun and exciting also. Definitely give this album a listen at some point and prepare to be impressed.

Label: Fuzzorama Records
Release Date: October 8th 2007

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Pitchblend – The Lines Of Unreason

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‘The Lines Of Unreason’ is the debut album release from Reading four-piece Pitchblend, an album that seemingly took an eternity to complete. This album was a good few years in the making; the reason for this is that the band went through a number of line-up changes during this period and the album therefore never got finished (until now that is). The album finally arrived through Sugar Shack Records on February 18th 2008, a thirteen track offering of progressive metal and one that wasn’t really entirely worth the wait. ‘The Lines Of Unreason’ is not a bad album, it’s just not so strong as it could have been and the music is at times a little too weak I feel.

Throughout this ‘The Lines Of Unreason’ album some beautiful use of guitar sound is made, the album is pleasant to listen to but you could easily leave this album running and completely forget that it was playing. The music does not cause much of an impact, as I listen to this album I find that many of the sounds created by the band here wash right over me without ever leaving any real lasting impact. Instrumentally the music is pleasant, vocally also the tone taken here is well put across by the band but without ever being particularly impressive. ‘The Lines Of Unreason’ is I feel the absolute epitome of musical mediocrity, the music is okay but never do you get even the slightest feeling that what you’re listening to is anything particularly special.

As the album unfolds there are no real stand-out tracks to speak of, every one of these thirteen tracks present is just as average as the next and always the music is kept on the same oomph lacking level. This would be a great album to listen to whilst you did the housework; a perfect background sound whilst doing any other activity but not a great album just to sit down and solely listen to. There’s just not enough going on here, not enough excellence shown on behalf of the band and always the music is just a little lacking. All thirteen of these tracks have been well put together by Pitchblend, the music is just rather unspectacular I feel.

I was expecting a little more from this album, much of this ‘The Lines Of Unreason’ album however just sounds to be Pitchblend giving their best impersonation of the sound of Placebo. Pitchblend’s vocalist Rich Savage certainly has the Brian Molko vocal approach down to a tee, I’d rather hear the band being a little more experimental with their sound however and providing a little extra in the way of originality. The album is quite pleasant, it’s definitely lacking in something however and the album seems to be trapped in a land of mediocrity; constantly the music is fighting to provide more but never is the sound created anything greater than average. If you liked Placebo’s ‘Without You I’m Nothing’ album then you’ll probably like Pitchblend’s debut release also; it’s certainly extremely similar.

Label: Sugar Shack Records
Release Date: February 18th 2008

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