Mares of Thrace

The Moulting

Written by: EW on 28/09/2010 09:38:11

I'll admit that I was struck with a touch of surprise after hearing "The Moulting" that the band behind it consists of two ladies, as the sound recalling the likes of Isis and Kylesa is not borne of a scene full of such ladyfolk. Their debut album is a stripped-down raw affair with little in the way of smoke and mirrors to divert attention from the garage jam feel at it's very heart as this low-key nature to proceedings quickly becomes the reference post for anyone listening to decide if the honesty apparent is honey to their ears or an unfinished demo recording in need of further fine-tuning. My opinion sits somewhere in the middle, leaning slightly towards the latter opinion. Reading the band were formed following tenure in a punk/hardcore act comes as no surprise with undertones duly noted in the likes of "Rawcake" and "Calcium Channels", two of the songs offering the most to go by in these 32 minutes of blue-collar rocking fury.

Where Mares of Thrace are dropping down my review scale however is in the lack of colour that swamps the album; try as I might the monotone nature of both riff and notably production make "The Moulting" tougher to get through than most listeners will ever accept. The aforementioned honesty of recording also goes to exhibit the fairly non-descript vocal quality of guitarist/vocalist Trez; still though, I applaud the decision taken not to overdub it with technological gimmicks as my experience tells me most similar-level would bands be quick to do so. It’s hard to disguise the fact two-(wo)man acts possessing a great deal of variety are a rare beast, with Om being the primary example in my mind, as you're gonna need some strong riff-writing chops and a well-suited production to get the music coming alive out your speakers. At the moment, Mares of Thrace are not yet that finished an article on “The Moulting”.

4

Download: Rawcake, General Sherman
For the fans of: Isis, Kylesa, Neurosis
Listen: Myspace

Release date 12.06.2010
Arctodus Records

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