Arsonists Get All The Girls

Motherland

Written by: AP on 08/10/2011 14:55:25

Under the broad umbrella of deathcore, few bands have managed to remain as consistently fresh and alternative as Arsonists Get All the Girls. But while the will to be creative was certainly always there, on previous releases it often felt like the band were still in the process of learning the knowledge and skill required to pull their experiments off with style. Their latest release, "Motherland", is the culmination of that process, and finally nails the sound the arsonists have been striving to achieve on past efforts.

While like-minded bands such as Rolo Tomassi and Iwrestledabearonce thrive on applying their quirks to a grindcore template, Arsonists Get All the Girls undertake to a more focused progressive approach which sometimes bears a faint resemblance to the Dillinger Escape Plan and Between the Buried and Me - listen to the first two songs, "Rise to Fall" and "Neck to Contrast" for perfect examples of such influence. Just like those two bands, everything on "Motherland" has a purpose regardless of how far-fetched it sounds, whether it be the bouncy intermezzo in "Neck to Contrast", the unorthodox breakdown in the end of "Hemlock Like This", the generous use of catchy keyboard melodies on "Gooseknuckle" and "Dr. Teeth", or the placement of the majestic instrumental piece "It Was a Memoir".

But while the first five songs have an initially mind-blowing effect, things do veer into stagnation towards the middle of the album, with the more stereotypical grind/deathcore pieces "Avdotya", "Waiting for the War to Die" and "Woebegone" passing by without much fanfare. This trio dampens the overall impact of the album somewhat, but fortunately the final two, "Will Someone Please Turn Down the Ocean?" and "Tempest" return the album to its original progressive track and bring the album to a deservedly grandiose finish.

Unlike Iwrestledabearonce, who like to write their songs on the basis of nonsensical guitar arpeggios, Arsonists Get All the Girls place just as much emphasis on memorable riffs inspired by both metalcore and death metal, and restrain themselves from excessive six-string stimulation. Indeed, Arsonists Get All the Girls are a band with a very distinctive, multifaceted sound which, on "Motherland", has been harnessed with finesse so as to prevent the songs descending into garbled nonsense. The multitude of stylistic directions on the band's palette has been weaved together with taste and ambition, resulting in a technically proficient, wildly experimental, and coherent piece of music their contemporaries should take notes on.

8

Download: Rise to Fall, Neck to Contrast, Dr. Teeth, Tempest
For the fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Iwrestledabearonce, See You Next Tuesday
Listen: Facebook

Release date 17.05.2011
Century Media

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.