Killing Gandhi: Cinematic Parallels

Waiting four years between inception and releasing their debut album, Denmark's Killing Gandhi (awful name…) have slowly been making an impact through a selection of live shows before dropping Cinematic Parallels, a rather tasty slice of melodic death with a twist of the Scandie sound. A new band they may be, but between them Martin Arendal (guitars) and Kasper Gram (bass) have amassed over a decade with the likes of Wuthering Heights, Evil Masquerade, Manticora and Ureas. Add in that singer Thorbjorn Jensen has spent time with Sickseed and drummer Rasmus Schmidt with Illdisposed and Corpus Mortale, and that Killing Gandhi don't seem to suffer from any obvious new band syndrome may not be that much of a surprise.

Named such because of the Cinematic Parallels the band have drawn for this release, the lyrics are based on Arendal's own reinterpretations of eleven of his favourite movies of all time, with five "trailers" used to link a number of the tracks. With no clues given, the mission, should you choose to accept it, is to decipher which movies the lyrics refer to. However whether you decide to take on, or cast aside that challenge, the songs still make a strong enough impact on their own; tight structures playing off a bold, brash sound that benefits from a cracking mix and master from Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Amaranthe, Pretty Maids…). With the main songs themselves being concise blasts of melodic angst and the trailers interesting, attention grabbing interludes, don't be put off by the lengthy track list, for Cinematic Parallels never feels like a three hour long biopic. Instead the shimmering smash of "The Light Will Shine Forever", the frantic threat of "Leaders Or Losers" and stomper romp of "0100101101000111", where a neat line in synths adds colour and depth (a feature intermittently across the album), simply roar past as if some sort of action packed horror slash you'll happily watch again and again.

Four years may seem like a long time for a bunch of established musicians to finally get round to releasing their debut effort. However I'd venture it has been well spent, for there aren't many chinks in the gleaming, yet blood stained armour of Killing Gandhi. Take a seat and get ready to lose yourself in their Cinematic Parallels.

Track Listing
1. Trailer # 1
2. The Cannibal Course
3. What Lies Beneath
4. Drugs for a Mindfuck
5. Trailer # 2
6. The Light will Shine Forever
7. Only the Strong will Survive
8. Trailer # 3
9. Leader of Losers
10. Trailer # 4
11. 0100101101000111
12.The Rise and Fall of a Superhero
13. Illusion of Death
14. Trailer # 5
15. D-Minor took my Life
16. The Next Level

Added: February 7th 2016
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Killing Gandhi on Facebook
Hits: 1511
Language: english

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