#FOR FANS OF: Post Hardcore, When Icarus Falls, Abenakis |
The debut full-length from Swiss post-hardcore rockers Colossus Falls offers a rather engaging if flawed variant on the style which is a loud, raucous affair without much else going for it. This is the loud, stuttering style of post-hardcore that offers up bland, chug-heavy patterns offset with plenty of sprawling riff-work that further drags the pace to a halt and it’s mainly when they drop that extended sprawling sections in their tracks that they really generate some fiery and enthusiastic work here. The riffing becomes bouncy and dynamic in these sections and the livelier tempos give this a stylish series of drum-work that brings the tempo back up significantly, but those other pieces here just really make this one quite a bland effort overall. Opener ‘Rise of Adrenaline’ features tight and frantic riff-work with plenty of tough, jangly riffing and scattered, schizophrenic patterns that creates a series of frantic and urgent rhythms leading into the blistering finale for a strong opener. Both ‘The Errorist’ and ‘Visions of Inhumanity’ go for extended swirling sprawling sections and a rather dragging, droning pace that rumbles along with a few rather energetic bits with plenty of vicious rhythms and pounding patterns that are dropped for favoring the droning bits here leaving these quite bland overall. ‘Bullseyes’ packs more of an energetic rhythm into a loud, raucous series of riffing with a stuttering pace and plenty of frantic paces that drop off in favor of rather bland post-rock sprawling before bringing the clanging rock back in favor for the album’s highlight. ‘Disgusting Secrets’ is a series of dinkly acoustic trinkling that carries on the light melodies with the heavier chugging coming into play with the final half as a pretty bland effort overall. ‘Kabuki - 歌舞伎’ offers some rather tight chugging and plenty of swirling rhythms that bring about a rather dynamic charge that works rather well leading into the heavier sprawling for the finish for a fine if quite too short effort. ‘(We were) Gatekeepers’ features plenty of strong swirling riffing and a rather strong swirling series of groove-based chugging that brings along the sprawling swirling here that leads into the stuttering finish for a rather enjoyable effort. ‘Nonversation’ plods along with light chugging and frantic pounding that really works along a series of frantic chugging with plenty of rather chaotic drumming alongside the rumbling riffing that leads into the final half for a solid enough effort. Finally, album-closer ‘F.A.T.’ takes straightforward swirling chugging and atmospheric sprawling into a stuttering series of rhythmic chugging that features the endless patterns churning along throughout into the clanking finale for a lackluster finish. On the whole, it’s not terrible but it does have some troubling factors involved. (Don Anelli)
(Self - 2015)
Score: 65