 
Recently I have been indulging with many bands
from Australia that have been pushing the boundaries
of modern rock and metal; bands like Dead Letter
Circus and Grinspoon to name a couple. Lo! Now
have found their way onto my stereo and bombarded
me with some dark hardcore onslaughts, some aggressive
natured musical work with energetic bursts amongst
the darkness of which their themes are based.
With a record deal, an EP and now a debut full
length effort under their belts it’s time
for an in-depth analysis of it to see if it’s
going to blend into mediocrity or make children
and elderly folk soil themselves.
After a minute of an obscure instrumental intro
track “Hath” I’m greeted by
“Deluge (Carnivorous Flux)”; this
structured way of writing is more along the likes
of Mastodon as opposed to “Hardcore”
dubbed styles like Parkway Drive, there’s
just more to it than that, rather than Verse,
Chorus, Breakdown, repeat there’s more interesting
interludes and musical fills. “Bastion”
provides more of a back and forth with lighter
and aggressive techniques, by this I mean they
constantly use lighter styles and then build it
up to the inevitable explosion of their heavier
side yet using drumming to keep it thoroughly
bouncy throughout. This approach is also present
in “Hued Tarantula” and “Moira
Kindle”.
One of the songs for me that really captured my
full attention and excited me is “Aye, Commodore”.
I fell that this particular song takes the best
distinguishing characteristics the band has to
offer, blends them together alongside a killer
riff. Atmospheric, dramatic, riffy, dark yet aggressive,
there wasn’t really much more you could
have asked for, I’d definitely say this
is the one track I’ll take away from the
album that will stay with me for years to come.
On the whole then not quite what I expected from
these Aussie lads, its better. Australia seems
to be on fire at the minute when it comes to musical
talent, Lo! Aren’t really on par with some
of the greats quite yet I think they still need
to work on refining a few thing’s and maybe
using a few more hooks in their material but for
a debut this is pretty damn impressive, the band
definitely has some good times in their careers
ahead of them.
4/5
Review by James Webb
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