Black Market Serotonin
Something From Nothing
Distant Earth Records
Rating: 5/5
Fuck yeah! FUCK YEAH! Finally a band that smash together all of my favourite bands and create something new and exciting. Very exciting. This album, supposedly a demo, was recorded by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Thomas on his own, and if it's a sample of things to come then things are going to be fucking insane, to put it mildly. So what do Black Market Serotonin sound like? Ok, so take the arpeggiators and synths from Vex Red's Start With a Strong and Persistent Desire album, add to that a sprinkle of Porcupine Tree, vocals that are in the Buckley school, but nestled somewhere between Yorke and Wardner, and top it with guitars that are chordy like Vex, but as aggressive and thrashy as early Muse.
The album itself has moments of filler as well as brilliance. The prog meanderings of 'Eyes Open' soon descend into something faintly tedious, and the vocals on opener 'Comatose', as well as closing track 'Something From Nothing, Pt. V' could have probably done with more work as they come over rather weak.
Enough of the shortcomings, though. What I really want to talk about are the highs, because they are very high indeed. 'Something From Nothing, Pt. IV', is very 'Wedding Nails' by Porcupine Tree, and 'Purify' is very reminiscent of 'Anaesthetise' off Fear of a Blank Planet. Neither of these observations are criticisms. 'Something From Nothing, Pt. II', is a track when all the influences can be clearly heard, and it shape shifts through many forms before ending with some massive riffing a la Incubus in 'Leech', or maybe early Muse (I'm thinking of 'Futurism', 'Sober' or 'Dead Star' here). In 'Irons in the Fire' the feel is more 'Stockholm Syndrome', with fast chord slashes riding a wave of reverb and synth backing. Needless to say, it's fucking awesome.
All of these tracks are great, but it's 'DeadByFiveOClock' that is the show-stealer. It's so fucking good it makes me sick to my stomach as a musician that I've never written anything close to this good. Starting with a 'Closest'-esque synth arpeggio loop, some clean chords come in before all fucking hell breaks loose. Verses are kept aggressive with distorted vocals, and I defy anyone to not lose the plot by the meltdown-of-shredding lead break. As soon as it's over you want to listen to it again. And again. And again. In a fair world, these guys would go far. This isn't a fair world, but fuck me I wish them the best, because we can't afford talent like this to go to waste.
Why are you still reading this? Get your dumb arse on iTunes and download the album! NOW!
The album itself has moments of filler as well as brilliance. The prog meanderings of 'Eyes Open' soon descend into something faintly tedious, and the vocals on opener 'Comatose', as well as closing track 'Something From Nothing, Pt. V' could have probably done with more work as they come over rather weak.
Enough of the shortcomings, though. What I really want to talk about are the highs, because they are very high indeed. 'Something From Nothing, Pt. IV', is very 'Wedding Nails' by Porcupine Tree, and 'Purify' is very reminiscent of 'Anaesthetise' off Fear of a Blank Planet. Neither of these observations are criticisms. 'Something From Nothing, Pt. II', is a track when all the influences can be clearly heard, and it shape shifts through many forms before ending with some massive riffing a la Incubus in 'Leech', or maybe early Muse (I'm thinking of 'Futurism', 'Sober' or 'Dead Star' here). In 'Irons in the Fire' the feel is more 'Stockholm Syndrome', with fast chord slashes riding a wave of reverb and synth backing. Needless to say, it's fucking awesome.
All of these tracks are great, but it's 'DeadByFiveOClock' that is the show-stealer. It's so fucking good it makes me sick to my stomach as a musician that I've never written anything close to this good. Starting with a 'Closest'-esque synth arpeggio loop, some clean chords come in before all fucking hell breaks loose. Verses are kept aggressive with distorted vocals, and I defy anyone to not lose the plot by the meltdown-of-shredding lead break. As soon as it's over you want to listen to it again. And again. And again. In a fair world, these guys would go far. This isn't a fair world, but fuck me I wish them the best, because we can't afford talent like this to go to waste.
Why are you still reading this? Get your dumb arse on iTunes and download the album! NOW!
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