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Thy Catafalque
Stengade, Copenhagen, DEN - 6/4
Album Reviews
The Cutest Babyhead Ever
Panoply EP
Written by: PP on 26/04/2009 17:29:43
You know how some bands are way too experimental for their own good? The Cutest Babyhead Ever are a prime example in that category. I've been spinning their EP "Panoply" for a good three weeks now without really knowing what to say about it in a review, and frankly, I don't expect my feelings to change in the near future, so I might as well share my thoughts with you guys now.
The music sways from flat out grindcore into more experimental, atmospheric moments, where even jazz is brought into the mix. The band experiments with different time signatures and sound effects, which sometimes has me thinking of Ephel Duath, and at other times early The Dillinger Escape Plan, but really these are just small nuances that pop up here and there. The vocal work is mostly an effect-laden screechy mess throughout the record, but there are a few spots where the gritting style fits the musical chaos well. The beginning of "The Bow" is a good example, and the opening of "Gallimaufry" is another - think early Fear Before The March Of Flames here.
These two tracks are also the best on the record, but like the remainder of the EP, they too are riddled with experimentalism that feels unnecessary at best. Just when it feels like the band has something going for them in the form of a psychedelic tremolo-shredding passage, a groovy guitar riff or merely a relatively catchy vocal line, something breaks the flow completely. Occasionally it is an annoying dose of dissonance and blast-beat hell, and at other times the vocals just cross the border between extreme and just noise. I can't point a finger at one particular bit rather than towards the EP as a whole, but honestly lads, tone down on the experimentalism a little and build on the decent foundations located in small doses across the record.
Download: Gallimaufry
For the fans of: Ephel Duath, early Fear Before The March Of Flames, experimental music
Listen: Myspace
Release date 24.02.2009
OneStrokeFace Music