Here we have the debut EP from New Plymouth trio Adam Colless (guitars, vocals), Jason Karam (bass, vocals, mellotron) and Mark Thomas (drums and percussion). The four songs, 23 minutes in length, show a band who are bringing together groove metal with stoner, displaying plenty of bottom end with rich distortion. Opening number, I’m Gone, hits it hard right out of the gate with crunch everywhere, from the bombastic drums through some nice basslines and powering guitars which have plenty of fuzz. This is one of those numbers that is ripe for crowd participation with beck and call response, nice energy levels and I can certainly imagine this to be an opening number at shows.
Magic 8 takes all those elements and then slows it down for the introduction, more into stoner than what went before, and one would think that Fu Manchu have been an influence, or possibly Monster Magnet as the riffs are huge. Although this EP was recorded and mixed at Rhythm Ace studios in Oakura with Sam Johnson, it was then mastered by the mighty Chris Chetland, who as always has brought the best out of the sound. There is some Mellotron on this number, an instrument far more widely thought of as being at home in prog, but just when one gets used to the atmosphere we are off like a runaway freight train which comes across as a mix of Sabbath and NWOBHM. I also wonder if they have been playing with End Boss as one can imagine that being a billing which would get a large audience as they definitely have similarities in approach. Something else I noticed for which they need to be praised is that this four-track is available on vinyl, so this means we have come to the end of Side A.
Side B starts with Underneath, and a doom introduction with a few elements of black metal before it lifts into a commercial groove metal hybrid. Adam has pedals and he is going to use them, and this song has been heavily influenced by Alien Weaponry in many ways, down to the use of some twin vocals, shouting of a few words and plenty of down-tuned enthusiasm and energy. They end with Berzerker, which again commences with powerful percussion before the rest of the band kick in. They like to use introductions to their songs, adding polish and interest to the arrangements. Overall, this is a very interesting debut EP and hopefully they will make their way up to Auckland soon.
Rating: 7/10
