Undersmile - A Sea of Dead Snakes (2010)
Blindsight Records
Review by Wayne Simmons
Undersmile are not your average doom metal
band. With their dual female vocal, they borrow as much from acts such as
Throwing Muses and Sonic Youth as they do from anything doomy. But doom they
are: their gigging says so; their label says so too and, hell, with so much
genre-splicing going on of late within the various sub-genres of underground
metal, why can’t this be doom?
Formed in 2009, they’ve been tearing up the
scene for nearly 4 years, garnering something of a rep for an intense live
performance. This is a band that means business. Their debut EP, 2010’s A SEA
OF DEAD SNAKES is an unsettling listen. Best played in the dead of night, while
you’re sitting alone in a dark room, it’ll have you looking over your shoulder
as the disc spins. This is powerful stuff, from the arrangement to the vocals
to the guitar. There’s a strong melody throughout, but always with a plaintive
or even horrific edge. Little within this EP is conventional or predictable and
that’s what makes it so awesome.
INSTRUMEN’S TRUAL is the opening track. Brooding
low-end guitar evolves to hammer-on riffage, the bass low and loose, the drums
punching the track forward. This is a cracking if misleading first track as
what follows is totally different in both feel and tempo.
Second track, CUTTER’S CHOICE, is perhaps the
most conventional track on the EP. Heavy, low-end guitar opens with our dual
vocal suspiciously tuneful. The chorus has a stoner/ shoegaze feel to it yet still
manages to cling to those 90s American indie influences; the harmony ringing
out like early Veruca Salt or Hole.
TEUTONIC DYSLEXIA really shakes things up.
It kicks off with some low, distorted riffage terrorised by a haunting dual
vocal. There are echoes of Japanese black metal band Gallhammer here. It’s a disturbing
sound. For the initiated, this song will
bring back memories of classic Asian horror films, and that’s a vibe that’s echoed
with the look of this band; our two frontwomen, Hel Sterne and Taz Corona, usually
dressed in white while performing, eye make-up heavy, hair long and dark, mirroring
Hideo Nakata’s Sadako, the ghostly antagonist within the film, RINGU.
CRAB PEOPLE continues this vibe with some slow
dragging riffage, discordant vocals layered over the top, the chorus an almost
Courtney Love esque sneer.
And then there’s SPORE with its heavily
distorted bass leading to guitar that feels more than a little Sonic-Youthy
with its off-tuned grinding rhythm and whining, distorted lead. There’s minimal
vocals with this one; just a ghostly wail swooping in and out from under the
guitar. And, yes, you’ll probably still be looking over your shoulder right
about now.
In a time when doom seems very anachronistic,
everyone and their dog peddling Sabbathian riffs, it’s refreshing to find a
band that has its own sound, even if that sound is a curious blend of things
that shouldn’t really work. Undersmile are a breath of fresh air and
undoubtedly one of the most definitive and exciting things happening within the
sub-genre right now. A Sea of Dead Snakes is a great introduction to their
unique and addictive brand.
Track List:
1. Instrumenstrual
2. Cutters Choice
3. Teutonic Dyslexia
4. Crab People
5. Spore
A Sea of Dead Snakes is available on Limited Edition CD (and Digital Download) from Blindsight Records.
No comments:
Post a Comment