Igneous Human – Pyroclastic Storms
Birth
You Better Be Dead
Quake
Redemption
Mute
Pyroclastic Storms
Deceived
Demonride
Hate
Tears
Igneous Human are a Swedish band who've been knocking around in one form or another since 1998, but you'd never know this from listening to their debut 'Pyroclastic Storms'. The overall impression from this record is of a young band, desperately in love with their heroes, and trying to emulate them all at once. In other words, the band sound like they're ripping off Arch Enemy, then Pantera, then Dream Theater, then 'Black Album'-era Metallica. The result is a confused record that doesn't focus on doing one thing well, and ends up as much less than the sum of its parts. Ambition is laudable, but unfortunately Igneous Human's ambition far outstrips their talent, and their attempts to cover all bases end up over-egging the pudding. For example, the track 'Mute' opens with a great riff that soon disappears as an overly fussy solo stomps all over it. Bizarrely, the album seems split in two, as the first half is full of overambitious attempts to sound 'prog', before the last few tracks sound like straight-ahead rock/metal à la Metallica's 'Sad But True'. The vocals are possibly the least likeable thing about the band; standard 'growls' which sound like a bad impersonation of Angela Gossow or Randy Blythe with little variation in pitch or texture. Shame, as some of these songs would be vastly improved with a powerful singer.
That's not to say there's nothing good about the band; the guitar solos are mostly great, if derivative, and the title track has a chorus as catchy as a cold. The band obviously have potential, but next time around, they need more judicious editing and a clearer sense of what exactly they're aiming for. As it is, the band seem to be jack of all trades, but master of none.
Reviewed by Ed Chapman
Pyroclastic Storms out now on Tractor Productions |
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