Clonecircle

Behind The Wire

Written by: TL on 11/01/2010 23:55:02

Shit, that new years break really did set me off the review wagon, and you know what readers? Getting back up to speed is always harder than keeping it up. Especially so when the records in front of you don't really seem that interesting, but more on that in a bit. In the traditional doomed attempt to have a year where we meet our deadlines, it's time for me to review Clonecircle, a Danish metal four-piece, and their sophomore LP "Behind The Wire". So let's dig in.

Clonecircle's myspace labels the band as Gothic / Industrial / Rock, and hence, it comes as no surprise that, despite some pretty sweet animated cover art, they are about as cool as KoRn is these days - and that's not exactly "hip", should you be in doubt. Needless to say though, that's probably not something you care about when you do what they do. Namely droning, mid-tempo heavy metal, with a dark industrial/nu-metal vibe and sinister scratched clean singing that sounds a bit wannabe James Hetfield.

I'm in no mood to beat around the bush tonight. I don't like Clonecircle, and here's why: I might not be your regular metal-afficionado, but the way I understand the genre, you have two options - a) you make something that is more vicious, fast and generally brutal than anyone else, and you impress the shit out of people by running them over with music that feels like the armies of hell unleashed - or b) you create a soundscape so epic, so vast, so ambitious and uncompromising, that the listener is completely immersed in its world for the duration of an album. Clonecircle do none of these things, rather they play metal on pop's principles. They're not truly heavy, nor truly harsh, and most importantly, they couldn't be further from 'uncompromising' if they tried. Their tempo is continually medium, their riffs are simplistic at best, their solos are generic and their vocals are bland.

All of this could possibly have been remedied if the band had at least been minorly catchy, but this is also not the case. In fact, each time I've put the record on, I would have grown bored and forgotten who the band were, had it not been for the help of some great production values and the strong impression of the mentioned artwork - But that alone does naturally not a good album make! Seriously, if you're not trying to be among the heaviest, or the catchiest, or the most majestic, what are you trying to do? And more importantly, why is listening to your record not answering this question for me? Down to the wire (...) Clonecircle is not a flat out terrible band, they're merely terribly bland, and I'd pick even a generic black/death outfit any day, over this heap of mediocrity. So yeah, grow some real metal malice or get out of my hair.

5

Download: Behind The Wire, Your Own Worst Enemy, Memento Mori
For The Fans Of: KoRn, Rammstein
Listen: myspace.com/clonecircle

Release Date 11.01.2010
MsM Production/TARGET Distribution

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.