Committee; The: Power Through Unity

Wasting no time since their debut EP Holodomor, international collective The Committee return with more disturbing historical tales of Soviet atrocity, through their traditional blackened death framework. After sampling Holodomor, the conclusion was that the strength behind this band was having the ability to fuse a tried and trusted musical framework, round interesting and well researched subject matter via scene setting sounds and a hint of traditional Russian music. However the test for The Committee was whether they could maintain the interest when reaching out across a full album and after living with the not overly long Power Through Unity for a few weeks, I have to say that they've done so reasonably well.

Again the subject matter is harrowing (the tag-line for Power Through Unity is 'History Is Written By The Victors. Now It's Written By The Dead!') and again it's perfect for the straight forward Black Death it comes to life through. However the agains continue, with again what The Committee do being safe and straight down the middle, for while, in places, there's a suggestion of Russian instrumentation behind the fuzzed guitars and atmospherics sounds - such as distant trains ominously rumbling by - little suggests innovation or genre stretching. However I don't think that's the point here, rather what this band do is hammer out a convincing style of music which feels perfect for the message they want to convey and I'd suggest (rightly or wrongly) that possibly, the message is slightly more important to the band than the music it accompanies. Still, everything is performed with passion and conviction and there are few faults to pick, although a more robust production would undoubtedly make for a harder hitting end result. However gloomy and atmospheric is the aim and one achieved in reasonable, if fuzzy style.

Not a huge step forward from their debut effort, Power Through Unity is, nonetheless, a convincing and engrossing experience that does bear up well to repeated scrutiny. If it sounds like your sort up thing, then break rank and don't delay, for it appears to be limited a mere 500 copies...

Track Listing
1. Not Our Revolution
2. The Man of Steel
3. By My Bare Hands
4. The Last Goodbye
5. Katherine's Chant
6. Power Through Unity

Added: February 21st 2014
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: The Committee Online
Hits: 1628
Language: english

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