So, a mere six years on from their debut, and the same line-up was back with the second album. I don’t know how long it took for them to record this one, but it is almost as if they have gone back to the debut and said “what do we need to do to make this one harder, more jagged, with more ideas and use of dynamics?” While this is very much a continuation of the debut, it is as if a fine gauze has been removed that one wasn’t aware was there before, as this is incredibly vibrant and powerful in a way that I thought the debut was, but when compared to this it can be seen that it wasn’t quite the complete product that this quite definitely is. Everything about this just works, incredibly well. Whatever you want from this style of music is definitely there, and not just in spades but in the all the other suits as well!
Intense but moody, jagged but refined, hard but gentle and atmospheric, it is all here. In the last year I have been able to hear some incredible kiwi bands producing some incredible albums, which is a European setting would have them on the front pages of all the rock press, and this is no exception. If you enjoy grunge style metal, and want to hear one of the finest examples of that style you are ever likely to come across, then this is it.
www.aaarecords.com/Symphony-of-Screams/
