Attempted Life: Pangaea EP

It's always fascinated me to go to concerts and to watch other people get into the music. Some try to dance, a sight that is difficult to watch, especially at an extreme metal show. Others start up a mosh pit and push, shove, and slam their way into others. Still others stand slightly apart from the action and bang their heads more gently. In every case, the music does something to listeners, giving them the desire to move and to feel, not just to listen. It would be nice, I suppose, if people paid careful attention to the music, but metal shows are usually dedicated to something more than just listening.

I note all this because Attempted Life describes their music, in part, as being dedicated to a particular sound, one that some couldn't handle, or even accept. Their promotional materials end up telling readers that the sound of this band is "like a toothless dog biting like the lies of an ex-wife slitting throats with a dull knife." Confusing, I know. I think, though, that this is meant to be a double simile--that is, the music is both like a toothless dog biting and like an ex-wife's lies doing what they do. We need to move on; the sound of metal, that quality that makes it special, memorable, marketable, has an elusiveness that we don't completely understand. Let's leave it at that.

So is Pangaea any good? If we judge it by the descriptions quoted above, then absolutely not. Nothing can live up to such strange and extreme comparisons, especially since this album is, let's face it, fairly accessible. If we judge this album on riffs and the warm fuzz of amps done just right then, yes, this is good stuff. Here's what you can expect: an album full of beefy guitar sounds that offer a crisp, but slightly crusty sound; drums that guide the beat away from simple time keeping into something more aggressive and pounding; bass lines that establish a root sound but, sadly, don't intrude too much; and vocals that are harsh and biting at the same time. I liked this EP, frankly, because it sounds really good; the distortion is just so warm and fuzzy and crunchy that I couldn't resist it. Leave the comparisons to toothless dogs alone and enjoy the music.

Track Listing:
1. Rhum and Razorblades
2. Graveyard Bitch
3. Desert Song
4. Icy Icers
5. Pangaea

Added: November 22nd 2012
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1666
Language: english

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