Rating: 4.9 Release Date: 2006 Record Label: Grindhead Records Track list: Band Website: Halo of Knives |
Halo of Knives - Eat God Aussie Grind? Then I expect 'Eat God' ought to be a face-excoriating release! Just a brief jaunt along my Grindcore shelf ensured I was initially congested with confidence, being reminded of various other examples of exquisite Australian excess 'n' extremity. The scene down under would appear to be rather robust; given the talents of such notables as decadent Goregrind debauchees, Intense Hammer Rage, the drum machine delirium of Fuck...I'm Dead, delinquents of daftness, Vomit Snack, and, of course, those depraved dignitaries of Grindrock degeneracy, Blood Duster (not forgetting the Noisecore derangement of Rancid Shit Wank). If my previous listens to Australian Grindcore wasn't enough to bloat me with buoyancy regarding my anticipation of 'Eat God', then the press release with which the disc was parcelled heightened my hopes twentyfold. Enriched with extravagant similes and imagery, the document represents the Halo of Knives sound as a staggering furore of grandiose Grindcore, 'heavier than a pair of cement shoes', performed at a rate exceeding both that of 'Speedy Gonzales after smoking a gram of meth' and 'a sewer rat fleeing from an alley cat'. Given that I perused the press release prior to my CD-trayward placement of 'Eat God', the text assured me I'd enjoy an experience akin to being struck by 'a runaway explosive truck driven by a speed-freak mutant'. After recent listens and live experiences of astonishing, feral Grindcore from acts such as Splitter and Mincing Fury and Guttural Clamour of Queer Decay, my agitated noggin contents are of course still in a pomace-like state of suduous paste. So how in twatting crikey could I expect my mashed auditory functions to withstand yet another torrent of apparently overtly rampant Grind? To be fair, my doddering ol' eardrums displayed commendable tolerance. In giving the release such hefty embellishments, I daresay the press release may have encumbered Halo of Knives with much to accomplish during their fifteen dissonant minutes, hence 'Eat God' inevitably came across as average and unremarkable, perhaps even a little pedestrian 'n' bland in places! Although their objectives are clear and their intentions are more than steadfast, the band simply didn't manage to seize ahold of my collar, wring out my oesophagus and give me the merciless pounding I was looking forward to. Still, the EP does display a reasonable amount of energetic, grinding momentum from time to time, so the quarter of an hour isn't entirely feckless! The delivery is bright 'n' lively, but parts of 'Eat God' seem hurried, which is jolly good for the performance, but not so for the songwriting/jamming process, 'cause some parts seem a bit blurry 'n' non-specific, but only until a fleetin' moment of jagged judder seizes the attention of the listener for another thirty seconds or so. For me, the salient points of Halo of Knives are the sudden thuds of jagged judder, the feverish deployment of urgent vokill patterns, the uplifting and unexpected shards of melody that introduce a song around the middle of the EP and the nice, organic overall sound. When I consider their various influences, it seems like a winning formula. To these stagnant ear canals, the Halo of Knives style lies somewhere between old Napalm Death and mid to late Nasum. Taking the punchy 'n' pugnacious patchwork style of 'Scum' and the chaotic, caustic clamour of 'Harmony Corruption', the band appear to have affixed the bellowing hysteria of 'Helvete' and the blastular highjinx of 'Human 2.0' to the concise compositions. At first, the fusion of the early eruptions of eminent Earache legends and the more recent raucousity of renowned Relapse heroes does seem promising, but even with the frequent wipe downs of dust-covered Unseen Terror and Heresy, balanced by bits of the more recent self-titled Captain Cleanoff EP, the method soon ends up scattered and stunted. So, how in the name of intrauterine twincest can such a pertinent selection 'n' collation of influences and their proficient performance have an uninspiring result such as this? You may recline contentedly in the knowledge that the sound production is not to blame, given that the instruments are all represented in a sufficiently clear, neat 'n' tidy manner. Especially the bass, which is furnished with a lovely curvilinear tone. The vokills sit comfortably in the mix, and any relentless snare maltreatment is interleaved carefully to minimise any over-blastular over-saturation. I think it's plain then, that 'Eat God' has alas been buggered by the songwriting 'n' arrangement processes, during which the ideas 'n' inspirations seem to have ended up as incomplete, creased sketches or tattered first drafts. Of course, this approach can and often does work wonders for Grind, but must possess more than just a few distinctive traits, be it remarkable extremity, personality, idiosyncrasy, or envelope pushery. Halo of Knives fall short of infusing their erratic racket with much of any of these, therefore listener attention wanes considerably as the structural stutter 'n' clatter becomes matted 'n' cluttered. To sum up then, 'Eat God' could easily have offered an enjoyable hike through leafy ol' Grind glades and verdant Crusty clearings, but the excursion has unfortunately ended up being quite a disappointing, easily forgettable ramble. It seems our tour guides in Halo of Knives have lost their way somewhere 'tween the forest of originality and the vale of creativity, travelling to only the very fringes of these must-visit areas afore straying frenziedly into pastures of lacklustre, sadly losing a few of the group somewhere in the meadows of mediocrity. As stated earlier, the expedition is only lasts for a quarter of an hour in total, which of course gives us all plenty of time to re-group, re-trace our steps along a second or third listen and re-attempt to find something of interest en route. If you pride yourself upon being a highly keen Grindcore aficionado who just loves to stuff their storage units to a serious stage of severe shelf sag, ensuring each wall and every surface contains row after row of every Grind record ever recorded, regardless of whether it may be an unsurpassed classic whose acquisition is mandatory to such a collection, or just an under-average, under-produced and thus far under-played slab o' Intermediategrind, then you ought to purchase this to further enhance your completism. If you're a mite more fastidious and discerning with regard to your Grindcore orientated shopping, then you might want to give this one a miss. If you can borrow 'Eat God' from a friend, then give the disc a couple o' listens by all means, because I think it's worth crossing the street for, but I don't think you need to bring it back over the road with you.
August 30th, 2006 |
