Isor - Post Mortem Peep Show
Casket Music - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
By Christ, I wouldn't like to live next door to this pair - and since guitarist/vocalist Dave Merricks hails from Walsall, a city approximately three miles away from where my Pringle-munching ass is currently planted, that's a more likely occurrence than you might think. The reason I fear proximity to Isor is that Merricks and his drummer/backing vocalist Nick Hemingway have produced the most eye-poppingly spectacular metalcore album I've heard in a long, long time. The lyrics are shot through with black humour, and structured with a militaristic discipline that stands out against the rest of the 'band-falling-down-a-flight-of-stairs' noisecore brigade, while the album is possessed of some awesome riffs.
No kidding - the riffs on this album are immense. And that's not just due to Dave Chang's fantastic production, which gives the lone guitar a hell of a kick - the riffs sound like they weigh a tonne each - but mainly due to the fact that Dave Merricks knows exactly how to wring a pummelling, technical, catchy, brutal riff out of the neck of his axe, and does so with terrifying regularity and consistency, all the time screaming like his nads are on fire. Let's not forget Hemingway's contribution though - his chaotically veering drum patterns punctuate the heaviest riffs, keep the tempo mildly during the infrequent, false-sense-of-security-summoning acoustic segments, and flail insanely during the hell-for-leather passages.
Comparisons are pretty hard to nail down, but Botch, Converge, Shai Hulud and Bloodlet do spring to mind when listening to this - but the real marvel is how unique Post Mortem Peep Show sounds. Their admirable restraint means that they remain more accessible than The Dillinger Escape Plan while still retaining an impressive level of technical and structural complexity. And my God, those riffs! Seriously, the last minute of 'Perfecting The Vegan Death Grip' contains some of the most furious, chunky, pummelling riffage I've heard in ages!
Go buy, right now.
9.5/10
Isor Official website
Copro Records/Casket Music website
Casket Music - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
By Christ, I wouldn't like to live next door to this pair - and since guitarist/vocalist Dave Merricks hails from Walsall, a city approximately three miles away from where my Pringle-munching ass is currently planted, that's a more likely occurrence than you might think. The reason I fear proximity to Isor is that Merricks and his drummer/backing vocalist Nick Hemingway have produced the most eye-poppingly spectacular metalcore album I've heard in a long, long time. The lyrics are shot through with black humour, and structured with a militaristic discipline that stands out against the rest of the 'band-falling-down-a-flight-of-stairs' noisecore brigade, while the album is possessed of some awesome riffs.
No kidding - the riffs on this album are immense. And that's not just due to Dave Chang's fantastic production, which gives the lone guitar a hell of a kick - the riffs sound like they weigh a tonne each - but mainly due to the fact that Dave Merricks knows exactly how to wring a pummelling, technical, catchy, brutal riff out of the neck of his axe, and does so with terrifying regularity and consistency, all the time screaming like his nads are on fire. Let's not forget Hemingway's contribution though - his chaotically veering drum patterns punctuate the heaviest riffs, keep the tempo mildly during the infrequent, false-sense-of-security-summoning acoustic segments, and flail insanely during the hell-for-leather passages.
Comparisons are pretty hard to nail down, but Botch, Converge, Shai Hulud and Bloodlet do spring to mind when listening to this - but the real marvel is how unique Post Mortem Peep Show sounds. Their admirable restraint means that they remain more accessible than The Dillinger Escape Plan while still retaining an impressive level of technical and structural complexity. And my God, those riffs! Seriously, the last minute of 'Perfecting The Vegan Death Grip' contains some of the most furious, chunky, pummelling riffage I've heard in ages!
Go buy, right now.
9.5/10
Isor Official website
Copro Records/Casket Music website
