- Sep 12, 2001
- 8,312
- 4
- 0
Not since Cynic's Focus have i been this blown away by a 'genre-crossing' metal band. Actually, i am more blown away by alarum's debut than i was with Focus, which is a big ask. Much much more jazz influence on Alarum, and there is alot of more 'lengthy' jazz sections to go up against the technical-death style heavy passages. Realization is a classic, and with a video-clip to boot, is the perfect introduction to the band. The only thing lacking in this album is extreme technicality. Don't get me wrong, these guys absolutely rip the hell out of their instruments, especially live, but the debut is more of a focus on progressive style writing in terms of structure, as opposed to nutty riffs. Not to matter, as i just received the pre-production demo for their upcoming release, and this... THIS my friends rival's Cynic. Technical as hell, especially the second track, which has a cool sitar effect, which gives a nice middle eastern flavour to the song.
The death-vocals are somewhat like newer Alchemist, and the clean vocals are top class, something that cynic should have used instead of that horrible vocoder
And the bonus is, mark palfreyman (bass vox) is a top class guy, so if you see them live, go and talk to him. The two guitarists are just amazing. Plain amazing, i saw them live, and seriously, mark (guitars) is a virtuoso in his own right, and when they get a bit more well known, will be up there with Chuck Schuldiner. The drums on Fluid Motion are pretty decent, they get the job done, but unlike the 2002 demo and live, they feel just a little restrained, but it seems as though he is a little more comfortable to let loose these days, which will give the band a big boost. One thing i would like to draw attention to, is mark palf's bass skills, this guy is amazing to watch. Sadly, the bass is a bit lost in the mix of Fluid Motion, but when you really put your ear into you, you can hear that this guy just totally rules, and after seeing him play live, i'm looking forward to how they treat the bass in the mix of the new material
Intelligent Virtuoso's....!
-Trapped
The death-vocals are somewhat like newer Alchemist, and the clean vocals are top class, something that cynic should have used instead of that horrible vocoder
And the bonus is, mark palfreyman (bass vox) is a top class guy, so if you see them live, go and talk to him. The two guitarists are just amazing. Plain amazing, i saw them live, and seriously, mark (guitars) is a virtuoso in his own right, and when they get a bit more well known, will be up there with Chuck Schuldiner. The drums on Fluid Motion are pretty decent, they get the job done, but unlike the 2002 demo and live, they feel just a little restrained, but it seems as though he is a little more comfortable to let loose these days, which will give the band a big boost. One thing i would like to draw attention to, is mark palf's bass skills, this guy is amazing to watch. Sadly, the bass is a bit lost in the mix of Fluid Motion, but when you really put your ear into you, you can hear that this guy just totally rules, and after seeing him play live, i'm looking forward to how they treat the bass in the mix of the new materialIntelligent Virtuoso's....!
-Trapped
