Lower Forty-Eight Apertures
Monotreme Records MONO20 October 17th, 2006
By Jason Jordan
Tackling post-hardcore, Lower Forty-Eight present their fourth album overall, which is in fact their third full-length. Apertures is more inconsistent and divisive than intended, Im sure, though there are a few select moments of bliss beneath the outer material.
To expound, Mass Denial, Massive Guilt isnt all that impressive until 2:40 when the band focus solely on grooving. Nor is there anything special about Blaue Augen, although the song has its high points. A few tracks The Distance of Life, Truth from Fact, and The Ring are what an emotion-free Hopesfall would sound like if, as implied, they were instructed to remove feelings from their music. Without a doubt, and baffling at that, the most peculiar thing about Apertures is the presence of one fantastic, crushing number (Desperate Signs) among tunes that dont even come close to rivaling their peer, much less conquering it. Thats the same predicament that Mastodon-emulators American Heritage encountered on Millenarian Toilet Paper and Leotards shits all over the rest of the album.
However, one cant satiate musical cravings by consuming the same song repeatedly, and Lower Forty-Eight while promising dont quite uphold their end of the bargain this time around. Apertures is nothing to scoff at, but I prefer Lunds (vocals, guitars) work with The Mass to this.
5.5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Lower Forty-Eight Website
Official Monotreme Records Website
Monotreme Records MONO20 October 17th, 2006
By Jason Jordan
Tackling post-hardcore, Lower Forty-Eight present their fourth album overall, which is in fact their third full-length. Apertures is more inconsistent and divisive than intended, Im sure, though there are a few select moments of bliss beneath the outer material.
To expound, Mass Denial, Massive Guilt isnt all that impressive until 2:40 when the band focus solely on grooving. Nor is there anything special about Blaue Augen, although the song has its high points. A few tracks The Distance of Life, Truth from Fact, and The Ring are what an emotion-free Hopesfall would sound like if, as implied, they were instructed to remove feelings from their music. Without a doubt, and baffling at that, the most peculiar thing about Apertures is the presence of one fantastic, crushing number (Desperate Signs) among tunes that dont even come close to rivaling their peer, much less conquering it. Thats the same predicament that Mastodon-emulators American Heritage encountered on Millenarian Toilet Paper and Leotards shits all over the rest of the album.
However, one cant satiate musical cravings by consuming the same song repeatedly, and Lower Forty-Eight while promising dont quite uphold their end of the bargain this time around. Apertures is nothing to scoff at, but I prefer Lunds (vocals, guitars) work with The Mass to this.
5.5/10
UMs Review Rating Scale
Official Lower Forty-Eight Website
Official Monotreme Records Website
