The first release on this new label (from Dutch Music Works, home of the labels FREIA Music and Painted Bass Records) is 'Notes by an Unstable Muser' from Dutch alternative metal band Overhaul. This is their debut album, following on from the 2014 EP 'Daybreak'. Musically these guys have taken a lot from Meshuggah, and have then tempered it with equal amounts of Hogarth-era Marillion. Singer Samuel de Vries has a strong voice, and although not really emotional he has a good range, while in terms of the quality of musicianship and production this is excellent. It’s just a shame that I don’t like either the songs or their approach.
It is a strange hybrid, never heavy enough to pound those riffs, while the commercial prog pop doesn’t work as part of it either. At times it is complex, and at others simple, but the way they move and change doesn’t work for me at all. It’s probably best to categorise this as an experiment, one that needs quite a lot of work, at least for my tastes.
