Monday 16 February 2015

Blame Kandinsky - Pink Noise Motel EP (Review)


Album Type: EP
Date Released: 12/12/2014
Label:  Self Released

“Pink Noise Motel” DD track listing:

1). Varnish 11 st Illinois
2). Cassidy Godson Meets Christine Fallin
3). Lions 
4). Nascency.Admittance.Guilt.Rebirth    
5). Beautiful Savages
6). Death Has No Name

Blame Kandinsky is

Stratos | Screams
Marm | Makes Pink Noise
Spyros | Shreds the Gnar
Kostas | Plays that Jazz
Chris| Trolls the beat

Review:

Alright, anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for aggressive, math-ish hardcore and this 19 minutes of wonderful nonsense called ‘Pink Noise Motel’ just made my month.

Oddball grooves, sick, rhythmic harsh vocals, aggressive percussion, and an ornate sense of dissonance and melody give this 6-track EP an urgency rarely heard since bands like Coalesce and Botch were bringing new noise and The Dillinger Escape Plan were forward-thinking kids jamming jazz, hardcore, and metal together until all three were bleeding.

Blame Kandinsky does provide a little more song craft than some mathcore bands by actually cycling back to a catchy riff every now and then and beating you to death with mantra-like riffs and vocals, like the bridge section of the opener “Beautiful Savages”.

There are great moments throughout this record where the band is playing pulsating, unison grooves that break into what almost feels like three or four different songs between guitars, drums, and bass that then reveal themselves to be intricate counter rhythms and melodies creating a beautiful labyrinthine web for the harsh, multi-timbral vocals to arc across. It sounds like Blame Kandinsky is concerned with not only creating interesting sounds and head spinning riffs, but also crafting actual songs that grab a listener and push them through the transitions and abrupt changes in direction.

The fourth “Nascency.Admittance.Guilt.Rebirth ” starts off with a layered harmony octave guitar line and turns into a sick, atonal groove with a repeating line of “WE FEAR TO SEE WHAT WE DID!” that just crushes before exploding into choppy, confusing rhythms and a dissonantly melodic mess before bringing it back around to a noisy, stomping riff.  This track in particular does an excellent job of reminding the listener of all of the elements that take over at different times throughout the earlier tracks of the record.

Words by: Ian Smedbron

You can pick up a copy here

For more information:

http://blamekandinsky.bandcamp.com | https://www.facebook.com/BlameKandinskyBand
https://twitter.com/BlameKandinsky