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Brides - Ocular.Unveil

Posted by Dan (Sub-Editor) from Cardiff - Published on 07/02/2009 at 12:36
0 comments » - Tagged as Culture, Music

My headphones are on. My finger hovers over the play button and I wince, bracing myself. The volume is down low, but I'm still expecting my eardrums to burst the moment this begins.

The reason? This CD - Brighton outfit Brides' debut album, Ocular.Unveil, was accompanied only by a track listing, which included such titles as Serpent, I'm Nothing But Your Anchor, Endless Sea Of Dirac and Eye Despise The FAceless(sic). Call me presumptuous, but I smell a black metal band dressed as goblins and trying a little too hard to sound evil.

If I guessed correctly, my ears will be subjected to a few moments of beautiful piano or violin playing - luring them into a false sense of security - before being murdered by the onslaught of eighteen B.C. Rich guitars thrashing into action and a vocalist screeching, booming and bellowing down a microphone for the next forty minutes of my life. I can hardly wait.

Okay, here's the obligatory slow-moving piano track. And a minute in... yep, here's the guitars and the shouting. There seem to be two vocalists: one shouting, the other almost singing. I slide my headphones down around my neck and listen to the tinny reverberations while I look up the band.

I find a photo. Oh look, four guys in black hoodies, the camera held annoyingly low so they look big enough to obscure the sunset behind them. Their faces identically stony and saying "I feel no emotion. I am angry man. Fear me slightly. Grrr." Good to know the band shoot was as predictable as the album intro. Still, at least they aren't dressed as goblins.

Headphones return and I'm pleasantly surprised to hear the tracks are showing signs of experimentation. While they're still held together with the obligatory 'shout, scream indecipherably, make a lot of noise' format, sections of the song are branching off into territory that sounds more like classic rock and post-hardcore. Suddenly I become interested.

The Cold Wealth and Eye Despise The FAceless (that 'A' is either a typo or supposed to be something 'deep') strike chords with both Dark Tranquillity and Funeral For A Friend with their fast beats, haunting guitar and distinctive vocals.

It is around here that the album really starts to take shape and find its feet. It stops being so drudgingly predictable at every drumbeat, and makes steps to becoming that unique sound every musician should strive for.

This progress continues with Carcinoma, which is a great track: a blend of punk, metal and hardcore and the kind of composition that clearly shows the band's undeniable potential. It would be my first choice for a single. If I were to hear a track like Carcinoma with no other knowledge of the band, I certainly wouldn't clump them in 'clich-ridden black metal band', but taking just a fleeting glance at their photos and track titles and I can't help but think that.

They remind me of Slayer when they first started out: wearing makeup just because they thought they 'had' to. The 'shouty' vocalist feels he needs to growl, but perhaps lacks the confidence to shed that skin and try singing normally.

After giving it a chance, Ocular.Unveil is a fairly decent debut with some standout tracks. But my advice to the band would be to stop trying so hard to meet others' expectations: stop growling for the sake of it, stop posing and naming your songs like a Norwegian black metal band, and shed that nervous skin.

You have a great band inside you - don't be afraid to let it out.

Ocular.Unveil is out Monday 23 March on Visible Noise.

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