New Zealand four piece THE SYMPHONY OF SCREAMS was formed back in 2008, and self-released their debut album “Heed to the Voices” shortly after. This production gave the band so much attention that they were signed to Kiwi label Allgood Absolute Alternative, who reissued this album in 2012, followed by the band’s second album “Radio Candy” in 2013. “Live & Unplugged is the third CD by the band, and was released through AAA at the very end of 2014.
As the title might indicate, this is a live album, and an acoustic one at that. Or rather, one featuring acoustic or unplugged guitars, as I don’t really get a feel that the bass guitar is an old school acoustic bass here. The interesting bit is that the band normally explore a rather different subset of music, namely grunge and alternative metal, hence the unplugged versions of these songs being perhaps a bit more different than similar productions made popular by MTV quite a few years back.
What the band appears to have don here, is to transform their compositions from the heavy, vibrant sound they apparently are known for into becoming more of a singer/songwriter type of material. Rather than trying to replicate riffs with the acoustic guitar they have opted for wandering, plucked guitars all the way through, only resorting to the guitar riff equivalent on the acoustic guitar for sections where I guess the original features impact riffs or other more intense guitar driven escapades. The bass is toned down as well, and the rhythms very much so unless I’m much mistaken. In short, the band has made some effort into transforming their material into suitably working acoustic compositions that in style is fairly close to what you might find on an inventive singer/songwriter production.
Where they haven’t done the job just as well are in the vocals. More dampened and controlled than on the originals I assume, but I get the impression that the general approach is similar, and at least to my ears this doesn’t function all that well in these landscapes. It’s a metal element in a relatively gentle acoustic environment, and rather sticks out due to that and often comes across as strained. Which has a detrimental effect on the overall impression of this production.
When that is said, these factors will apply first and foremost to those who are not familiar with the band already. That is the beauty of music, once you’re familiar with a band and their material, performances of this kind will hit home much better. Especially if you’re a fan or otherwise someone with a good to intimate knowledge of the material performed. So while I find this production to be a generally pleasant one albeit without any true high points, existing fans will have a much greater chance of warming to and truly enjoying this album. As will those fond of all those unplugged albums released by or due to MTV from many years back I suppose.
My rating: 58/100
