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| Album Reviews: Adrenochrome ? demo |
Five-piece rock band with a touch of the funk - think Incubus-lite (somewhere between funk of ?S.C.I.E.N.C.E? and the rock of ?Make Yourself?) with a smidgen Pearl Jam in their more straight-ahead rock moments. Having finally got a steady line-up, this is their first proper demo CD.
Track Listing:
1 ? JHVA
2 ? Tweed
Adrenochrome is one of those bands that I?ve been hearing about for ages but never actually hearing ? mainly due to singer issues (i.e. not having one). I know two people that tried out for them over the last year, so they were clearly making sure they had the right person for the job.
This CD is clearly a demo. I suspect it might be a home recording from the numerous rough edges, and the treble-heavy mix. The general sound is pretty good, but there is a lot of high end - the cymbals hiss rather than crash, and can overpower the music at times. Everything is there though; there?s surprisingly good separation of the instruments, and they all sound quite full. The playing is good too ? the bass playing has a slight funky edge, and the guitar playing is good and solid. The vocals are a bit odd though. I definitely think they found the right guy - he?s got a nice rock voice that suits the music (almost like a white version of Lajon Witherspoon from Sevendust) ? but the vocal recording is poor. I can?t decide if he has a lisp or if the excessive sibilance and plosive sound is the result of recording on a cheap mic without a pop screen, but either way the vocal tracks again have way too much high end and virtually no mid-range, making then sound a bit hissed and stealing them of some power. There are a couple of out of tune backing vocals in ?JHVA? ? the one 2:06 into it really sticks out, but it sounds more like over-enthusiasm than anything.
The songs are a bit patchy ? there are some great riffs, especially in ?Tweed?, but there are several sections that don?t work so well. The spoken word section in ?JHVA? seemed a bit out of place, and I wasn?t keen on the sampled intro to that song either. Personally, I think one of the most important things in this type of music is a good flow, and in this case the sections sometimes butt together rather abruptly instead of running into each other smoothly.
I have to admit I?m slightly torn about this one. It?s a demo, and as such it?s more about seeing what works for the band than creating amazing songs ? but still, the band (excluding the singer) have been together for quite a while now, so I think I was expecting something a bit more cohesive and closer to a finished product.
Poison Pen
Submitted by Poison_Pen
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Posted on Sunday, December 18 @ 09:00:00 PST
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