Rockfreaks.net

The Green River Project

Dig Your Grave EP

Written by: PP on 08/07/2009 16:22:17

Hailing from the vibrant music scene of Camden Town, London, UK, The Green River Project have been garnering plenty of hype by the British underground press, even gaining mentions in Terrorizer and Metal Hammer UK thanks to the dazzling fretwork by guitarist Mick Priestley, but more on that later. Thanks to the buzz, the band headlined a packed Camden Underworld as their second show ever. Quite impressive. "Dig Your Grave EP" is the band's debut release, a taster of some sorts whilst everyone is waiting for their debut full length, but I'm not sure I'm convinced just yet, and here's why.

"Dig Your Grave" EP contains two different sounds to be exact. One of them, coincidentally also the one that I like the best, is where they sound precisely like "City Of Evil"-era Avenged Sevenfold. One listen to the title track will reveal that vocalist Andy Law sounds precisely like M. Shadows from his strained clean croons to his scaling vocal performances and the annoying whine-factor. Instrumentally, the song follows roughly the same formula as "Beast And The Harlot", except the production isn't as smooth and Priestley is a much better guitarist technically than Synyster Gates. Still, I can't help but think of the song and "No Return" as anything else than b-side versions of the good Avenged Sevenfold songs. The potential may be there, but execution is still lacking.

"The Flight Of The Bumble" and "Summer - Presto" are completely instrumental tracks, and display the second side to The Green River Project: the ridiculous guitar wankery which feels like a purely exhibitionist process where Priestley shows off his incredible talent with the axe whilst the rest of the band are in a supporting role. It seems like there's no limit to how fast those scales can be fired off, or how many melodic licks and solos he can pack into a single song and still keep it somewhat cohesive. You may find it impressive on the first couple of listens, but on the long run the showing off starts to piss you off, resulting in Priestley coming across as a guitar wonder kid who has a burning urge to brag with his talent to us lowly listeners. These guys are on their debut EP and they already have an image as arrogant as Avenged Sevenfold, Jesus. But if you're able to get past the strikingly obvious fact that The Green River Project sound ultra-trendy and likely to be more concerned of their image in the future than the music (hi A7X), there's some decent stuff here, even though Avenged Sevenfold DID do it much better before these guys.

Download: Dig Your Grave
For the fans of: Avenged Sevenfold
Listen: Myspace

Release date January 2009
Self-Released