Show of Bedlam - Roont

SHOW OF BEDLAM - Roont
2012
Choking Hazards Records

I admit I didn't know about Show of Bedlam (SoB) before I saw this "Doom Night" poster, and went to see them live at Cafe Chaos in Montreal. Now, that was a surprise, the band deliver the goods and are probably one of the best doom acts I've seen live in the City that Never Sleeps.

Right off the bat, SoB isn't your typical type of doom (or classical doom). This is a noisy branch bred in pain, born into hardcore, and likely raised around a few crossover acts such as Earache's rosters of the 90's. If we were to try finding SoB's parents, we would probably find it somewhere between the social violence of Today is the Day and the dark personal journey of Rollins Band. One closer comparative could be the mighty Jucifer, with whom it seems that SoB shared a split earlier.

Roont is a full lenght divided into four long tracks, and an interlude. It is one whole uneasy atmosphere, opening up a personal nightmare. Beyond the doom music itself, this direction is crafted by the female touch of singer and frontwoman Paulina Richards, who also participated in the brilliant Masseter alternative project. Throughout her relatively long texts, she is dragging us into an inscape journey where we witness dark interpersonal situations, and find a few shady characters; something also explored by other female-fronted bands such as Otep, Doll, or Social Revolver. With Paulina's very specific tone of voice and variations, Roont is like a black and white vintage horror movie, with a touch of purple despair.

SoB is a four-piece band: vocal, guitar, bass and drum. The tempo of the album is relatively slow, like a hearbeat pounding in your head, alone in the dark of an empty basement, waiting for your captor. There are all sorts of noises, loops and synth effects added to the instruments mentioned above, thus offering a rich backdrop to Roont. The guitar sound is dirty, and the bass - deep down the spectrum - is full of overdrive. The female vocals are saturated and textured with a deep reverb, giving them a nice ghoulish/horror movie texture.

On the cover, there is an appropriately depicted spooky abandoned wooden house, somewhere in a nameless town. On the back of the cover, we see a spiritual summoning session (likely taken from a black and white horror movie). On the inside, we find a 12'' piece of sparkled wax, purple and black.

Roont is definitely making my year's end list as one of the most pleasant discoveries, and probably as one of Choking Hazards Records' best releases to date.

http://showofbedlam.bandcamp.com/
http://chokinghazardrecords.blogspot.ca/

Le Kraken - Exil (EP)

LE KRAKEN - Exil
2012
D7i records/Vendetta Records

It has been almost three years since Le Kraken released their second release and first full lenght album, Exalt. While the music used the same common denominator as many sludge and crust bands, it was a welcoming variation: simple structures, short songs, and French lyrics. I was highly anticipating any follow up to it, and it came under the shape of a 5-songs, 17+ minutes 10'' EP.

At first, Exil sounds like more of the same cool-aid we drank earlier: punk-size songs (2 to 4 minutes average), guitar-oriented structures, atmospheric chords layered over a pounding drum, and a vocal pitch drenched into hardcore. However, after a few listen, we unearth something definitely fresh.

This EP is the opportunity to introduce a new line-up. Bassist Guillaume Chamberland has taken vocals duty, and a new guitar player, Jean-François Dussault Desgroseillers, joined, now forming a four-piece with drummer Louis Guillemette and guitarist Jean-Phillipe Marcil.

Exil is also an opportunity to introduce a new logo, something crucial for a band that has started to tour seriously and that is constantly expanding its audience.

So how does that translate into music? Opening track "Exubérance" kicks in with what we came to know (and like) about Le Kraken: contagious guitar riffs, clever drum patterns, and a range of vocals that makes the music quite accessible. Then, all of a sudden, the drapery falls, and we are left with some sort of Cult of Luna-esque melancholic guitar atmosphere. It is picked up by the other instruments, in a slow and almost doomy atmosphere, bringing the listener somewhere unexpected. "L'assault & l'esquive" displays a similar structure, i.e. riffs and drum patterns change mid-way through the song. Applied to their heavy-but-not-oppressive music, this technique makes the songs breathe, and suithes the mood perfectly. These two songs are followed by "Erratum", a short crusty snack that could have figured on any of Le Kraken's previous releases.

The band clearly crafted their art while sharing the stage with many other bands from the same genre. Centrepiece to the album, the excellent "Arbore essence" is something radically new for Le Kraken. In a progression of guitar textures and a wise alternation of drum patterns, the song brings echos of Alaskan or Textures, among others. Delightful.

Last, but not least, the Exil EP ends with the title track. With a focus on a strong chorus, this one captures the best of the album through variations of atmospheres and tempos, and offers one of the best texts the band has written to date. On that level, this time again all lyrics are sung in French and express personal reflections, or states of mind. The choice of words is better than your average band, but the construction is very raw, unpolished and unfinished, as a note to yourself in the corner of your university notebook.

Aside from the music, the Exil EP is housed in a stunning piece of art. The dramatic picture on the cover is the art of Alexander Mody, who is responsible for designing Vestiges' most striking landscape cover arts in the last years. There are two editions: black wax, and black haze/clear wax. Definitely worth purchasing on vinyl.

In conclusion, Exil is Le Kraken's first step into a new direction, one that is rooted into new alliances. It is laid on strong foundations, but rather than being limited by its past releases, the record tells us that the band is ready for venturing into new paths.

http://lekraken.bandcamp.com/album/exil
http://www.toysofdisharmony.com/