Vulture Industries: The Tower

This is what I would call "mish mash" metal, a combination of elements of prog, symphonic, and doom put together in a somewhat novel way. So songs careen between slower, doom-laden minor key epics, and higher-intensity rave-ups, at times in the same song. In the press release that accompanies the disc, the text dubs this combination of elements "avant-garde metal," but I think that is a bit of a misnomer; I don't see this so much as avant-garde as more an attempt to mesh different styles of music that somehow complement each other. Had I listened to this without knowing that the musicians are Norwegian, I am not sure I would have picked up on that; this lacks the over-the-top attitude that a lot of Norwegian death metal has, and it is the better for it. This record plays with different textures and tempos, and shifts between blowing the top off the song and using carnivalesque piano styles. The band shies away from the deep growls of most thrash and death metal bands, instead relying on the deeply operatic vocals of lead singer Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen. The man has a set of pipes, to be sure.

I find some similarity to American bands such as Mr. Bungle, which I noticed before I saw that the band itself makes the same comparison. Listening to the song "The Hound" is emblematic of this. But these guys are their own people, and while one can draw comparisons to other bands, overall this is fairly interesting in its own right. It's a nice amalgam of stylistic elements. Best songs on the disc are "The Pulse of Bliss" and the epic "The Hound." While I would not call this a critical purchase, it is certainly both enjoyable and chop-heavy.

Track listing
1. The Tower
2. Divine - Appalling
3. The Hound
4. Blood on the Trail
5. The Dead Won't Mind
6. A Knife between Us
7. The Pulse of Bliss
8. Sleepwalkers
9. Lost among Liars
10. Blood Don't Eliogabalus (bonus track)

Added: October 10th 2013
Reviewer: Dana Lawrence
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2604
Language: english

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