Heavy Heavy Low Low

Everythings Watched, Everyones Watching

Written by: PP on 05/12/2006 15:24:35

Whatever happened to the good old days of experimental rock/hardcore? Fewer and fewer bands are willing to take the risk of experimentation, which can cost you both your fans and your record deal when gone terribly wrong, but on the other side can quickly turn you into a cult act when done right. We've recently seen Fear Before The March Of Flames successfully go into a heavily experimental form of hardcore with their latest album "The Always Open Mouth", but when lined up against Heavy Heavy Low Low's debut "Everything's Watched, Everyone's Watching", it feels tame and awfully straightforward.

Heavy Heavy Low Low at least live up to their name allright. The basis is that they play heavy riffs, tuned low. Except their riffs are played with such complexity and experimentation that most hardcore bands would rather go pop than try to write a song like "I Forgot 2 And A Half Days". We're dealing with what might be one of the most inaccessible albums of the year, with songs like "Kids, Kids, Kids" openly ridiculing you for not being able to get your head around them. They tease you with obvious melody to underline the fact that there's something great underneath, and then wrap it inside senseless noisecore where instruments start and stop without prior warning, go from perfectly tuned to so off tuned it hurts your ears, all while scaling up and down utterly incorrect scales. It's like jazz-metal fusion gone terribly wrong. You'll find the oddest time signatures with guitars flying in and out faster than you can notice, jazz-influenced passages that break down into slowed down hardcore screams, then turn into growls, and suddenly explode into outbursts of desperate screams and blast beat hell, before it quiets down again and vocalist Robbie Smith utilizes whisperous spoken-word style. Before you know it, the ear-splattering noise returns and you end up wondering just what the hell is going on here. Trying to understand it fully is like trying to push two opposite magnets together: you can see and understand where the melody is, but when you try to reach it, it goes further away. It's as if you're pushing on an unlocked door and the door pushes back. Sounds impossible, but just listen to "A,S,V,L,N".

All this makes "Everything's Watched, Everyone's Watching" a darn hard album to rate. Should I give it 10 because their technical proficiency is top notch, they don't deny their jazz roots, and they are able to fuse it into metal much like The Dillinger Escape Plan in some songs? Or should I rate it below average just because the songs stir repulsion inside of me instead of attraction? Should I give it a 7 because of the teasing melodies that make me drool to hear more, and just when I think I'll have more I'll get a relentless breakdown instead? I don't know. You decide.

7

Download: "Kids, Kids, Kids", "Mall-nutrition"
For the fans of: Fear Before The March Of Flames, The Fall Of Troy, The Dillinger Escape Plan
Listen: Myspace

Release date 25.09.2006
Ferret
Provided by Target ApS

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