Roswell Void
Cacophonous Records NIHIL38CD 27th October 2003
By Rusell Garwood
Swedish six-piece Roswell are set to release their debut Void on the 27th of October through Cacophonous records. The eight songs are - for the most part - unremitting metalcore assaults. Nearer hardcore than metal, the often discordant guitars of Martin Persner and Simon Soderberg occasionally employ melody, but often focus on creating a thickly-layered barrage of sound. Very infrequent clean tones provide more emotional passages, only to break down into jarring disharmonies once more. The bass courtesy of Bjorn Nilsson is prominent, powerful and well performed, utilising occasional solo lines and often proving more melodic than the guitars. Drummer Christian Eriksson is competent, using crushing beats in slower sections, while double bass and snare-heavy rhythms work well in faster pieces. Claudio Marinos hardcore shouts display little variation but ample aggression, while his subtle programming (also provided by Bjorn) is used to good effect at times. Spoken sections mark a pleasant departure from the shouting, and final member, percussionist Goran Bartol has little impact on their sound.
Void is an aggressive and unforgiving release, which can lack variety, but is for the most part a pleasant listen. The band are accomplished on their chosen instruments, while their discord-based songwriting is solid, if lacking cohesion at times. This creates an impressive debut, which hardcore and metalcore fans are likely to appreciate.
Cacophonous Records NIHIL38CD 27th October 2003
By Rusell Garwood
Swedish six-piece Roswell are set to release their debut Void on the 27th of October through Cacophonous records. The eight songs are - for the most part - unremitting metalcore assaults. Nearer hardcore than metal, the often discordant guitars of Martin Persner and Simon Soderberg occasionally employ melody, but often focus on creating a thickly-layered barrage of sound. Very infrequent clean tones provide more emotional passages, only to break down into jarring disharmonies once more. The bass courtesy of Bjorn Nilsson is prominent, powerful and well performed, utilising occasional solo lines and often proving more melodic than the guitars. Drummer Christian Eriksson is competent, using crushing beats in slower sections, while double bass and snare-heavy rhythms work well in faster pieces. Claudio Marinos hardcore shouts display little variation but ample aggression, while his subtle programming (also provided by Bjorn) is used to good effect at times. Spoken sections mark a pleasant departure from the shouting, and final member, percussionist Goran Bartol has little impact on their sound.
Void is an aggressive and unforgiving release, which can lack variety, but is for the most part a pleasant listen. The band are accomplished on their chosen instruments, while their discord-based songwriting is solid, if lacking cohesion at times. This creates an impressive debut, which hardcore and metalcore fans are likely to appreciate.
