Locus - Locus
Blinding Sun Records - 2006
By Paul Raw Nerve
My first thoughts within the opening 30 seconds of 'Tony Montana' is that Locus remind me of Godflesh meeting Machine Head, which would be quite a prospect, but once the opening vocals come in and the direction changes, any remnant of a Godflesh hint dissipates and we are left with the major rap metal side of Machine Head as our main comparison. Also joining in the seeming influences are Clawfinger, Slipknot, old Pantera and Exhorder etc., but, well this just doesn't quite cut it to be honest.
I don't like the vocals for the large part; the production isn't particularly hot on the guitars lacking a real crunching punch to bring this to life (which it really needs in this style to stand a chance). Locus do have some good moments though, and the songs are pretty well written and compared to a lot of the Southern American tinged rock metal / nu-thrash metal genre, they fair decently. With songs like 'From whom that comes around' they show the potential to really rock out, as it varies proceedings more in both music and vocals.
Closer 'Cast The First Stone' has a big groove running through it to help me ignore the cheesy lyrics and voices, but it's going to take a bit more than the occasional groove or good riff to really make Locus stand out.
5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Locus Website
Official Blinding Sun Records Website
Blinding Sun Records - 2006
By Paul Raw Nerve
My first thoughts within the opening 30 seconds of 'Tony Montana' is that Locus remind me of Godflesh meeting Machine Head, which would be quite a prospect, but once the opening vocals come in and the direction changes, any remnant of a Godflesh hint dissipates and we are left with the major rap metal side of Machine Head as our main comparison. Also joining in the seeming influences are Clawfinger, Slipknot, old Pantera and Exhorder etc., but, well this just doesn't quite cut it to be honest.
I don't like the vocals for the large part; the production isn't particularly hot on the guitars lacking a real crunching punch to bring this to life (which it really needs in this style to stand a chance). Locus do have some good moments though, and the songs are pretty well written and compared to a lot of the Southern American tinged rock metal / nu-thrash metal genre, they fair decently. With songs like 'From whom that comes around' they show the potential to really rock out, as it varies proceedings more in both music and vocals.
Closer 'Cast The First Stone' has a big groove running through it to help me ignore the cheesy lyrics and voices, but it's going to take a bit more than the occasional groove or good riff to really make Locus stand out.
5/10
UM's Review Rating Scale
Official Locus Website
Official Blinding Sun Records Website
