Tag Archives: NYC
Netherlands – Audubon
New York City’s Netherlands may have yet to come across the average metalhead’s dashboard but with the release of their third fuzzed out LP (making their début on Prosthetic Records), they won’t be foreign for much longer. Founder and multi-instrumentalist, Timo Ellis, already has an impressive repertoire with having created and produced music for over 2 decades, releasing work under his own name as well as working with artists like The Melvins and Ween. But now, with the help of Zach Eichenhorn (drums) and Ava Farver (synth bass) since 2010, he’s channeling his heavier side…and it sounds oddly familiar. Not the ‘I’ve heard it before’ familiar but the ‘I totally know what your influences are’ familiar. It’s without a doubt enough to call your ears to attention.
This 9-track journey through distorted astronomy and psychedelia clocks in at a bittersweet 28 minutes. And I guarantee that you’ll feel the emptiness of a trip cut too short. From the Black Sabbath-y falsetto vocals combined with the foundationally Sleep-like wall of guitar riffage and just enough Ty Segall-approved fuzz to tickle one’s fancy, the track ‘Elephuck’ is enough to generate genuine excitement. Especially with the attractively dark lyrical theme of a dying sense of self as a result of religious mind control. What’s there not to like? The fellow slow-tempoed sludgey track ‘Bottom of the Ocean’ is the definite sweet spot of the record for the vocal variety alone. From the preachy chanting to the layered angelic whispers of world disasters and oncoming death (all over top of the gloomiest guitar riff of Audubon), Netherlands has more than honed in on a signature style.
Timo’s talent for intelligently hypnotizing guitar riffs and intriguing vocal organization is apparent in the fact that there is something attractive about each track on the record. Even the weakest track (and regrettably the opening track which is surely to throw some patrons off the scent) ‘L.M.M’ doesn’t get interesting until past the 1-minute mark when chaos and fuzz ensue to better fit Timo’s airy vocals.
Overall, Audubon is a solid release. Netherlands would surely benefit though in moving towards lengthier progressions to develop their tracks from being simply ‘a ride around the block’ to a fully dark and psychedelic experience.
7.5/10
EBONIE BUTLER
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Prong – Ruining Lives
Tommy Victor (Danzig/Ministry) is at it again with his industrial/thrash outfit known as Prong. The newest release from the 3-piece is entitled Ruining Lives (Steamhammer/SPV), but I wouldn’t say my life is ruined since listening to this album. I have never had the opportunity to listen to Prong up until this point, but I was pleasantly surprised at all of the elements that Prong attack their listeners with. Industrial guitar tones, punk/thrash drum beats, the occasional break down, and the uniqueness behind Tommy’s voice were all present on this album and jive really well together.
For my first time listening to Prong I would say overall it was a positive experience and I will be digging for more as soon as I can. Having said that, I felt like the first four tracks were missing something that make them memorable to me. Maybe it was because the songs were not as aggressive as I had hoped. Perhaps the breakdowns seemed a little too forced and just put in to kill time. My philosophy, however, is to keep moving forward with the album and stay engaged with it. This time, I would say it worked out. From the album title track on through to the closing seconds of ‘Limitations and Validations’ I was head banging more and really digging the grooves that were being presented. The breakdowns, when they did occur, felt right. The aggression factor certainly increased exponentially as well where the guitars seemed to come alive and take a stranglehold on each track. Most importantly, these tracks became memorable, which is arguably the most important characteristic a song can have in this day in age where you can purchase single songs off of applications such as iTunes. Personally, I will buy and listen to a full album and listen to it front to back as intended so I can get the full feeling from the artists who wrote and recorded it. In other words, I buy a whole painting with a frame, not just a chunk of the painting that has some happy trees in it and ignore the beautiful mountains in the background. So to shift gears back to Prong, I would say my favorites off of this album were ‘Ruining Lives’, ‘Absence of Light’ , ‘Self Will Run Riot’, and ‘Limitations and Validations.’
The best part of finally getting to listen to Prong, was to listen to all the little bits and pieces that reminded me of other bands/artists who cite Tommy as an influence. Burton C. Bell from Fear Factory, Jonathan Davis from Korn, and even Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails all seem to utilize small pieces of Tommy’s work and it is even clearly seen off of Ruining Lives today. It is safe to say that Prong is not only a very important piece of the extreme musical world of today, but Tommy and company can still hang with the best as they have proved here on their latest.
6.5/10
TIM LEDIN