Saturday 23 June 2012

Idylls - Farewell All Joy


I've spoken on this blog before about the wealth of quality bands coming out of Australia, but I've only really looked at the death metal scene in the past. I actually read about Brisbane based Idylls on Cvlt Nation a couple of months back and rather spookily, shortly afterwards Chris B from the band got in touch asking if I wanted to review Farewell All Joy. Farewell All Joy was released on the 16th of May through Monolith Records and Tenzenmen Records.

Tracklist:-

1. Funerals In Queensland
2. Paradise of Blood
3. Swine / Virgins/ Utopiates
4. Bombs Reign Youthless
5. Bastardized Harvest / Spring In The Badlands
06. Amps For God / Plague Hell
07. Violent Caves
08. Heaven's Transistors
09. Teenage Noose
10. Susy

Funerals in Queensland starts with jangly, indie/emo inspired guitar and off kilter rhythms. The screaming and the time signatures remind a lot of crazed grind bands like Birdflesh, but this has its own identity and hits with a huge element of surprise throughout it's short, sub one-minute time-span.

Paradise of Blood follows with more, almost jazzy structures, before going all out crazy. The instrumentation has that proggy feel to it and the band are really clever in that they don't go for all out heaviness, but use melodic textures to make the music a lot more interesting. Swine/Virgins/Utopiates is utterly mental. If Primus had written a grindcore version of the South Park theme song, I'd imagine it would sound subtly like this. It's those jangly guitars!

Each songs shifts into the next, which I really like, and the intro to Bombs Reign Youthless comes at you with a subtle hint of sludge. The drumming is incredible as well. It may to some, sound like all members are playing to different songs, but everything fits together perfectly and leaves you trying to pick out a rhythm or reference point, which is sometimes bewilderingly hard. Idylls do however, settle down at regular spots and change the pace, adding plenty of experimentation and variation as they go.

Bastardized Harvest, Spring in the Badlands represents a slower, heavier side to Idylls. The bass heavy sludginess, the low screams show a different side to them for the first half of the song. There's also an appearance of some spaghetti western inspired guitar as well. They finish up the song with more nerve jangling noise. Fast and with rhythms darting all over the place, yet with all instruments sounding clear thanks to a good production.

Amps of God, Plague Hell starts the second half of the record. This is one of their longest songs and again they sound heavier when they slow it down. The rumble of the bass and the steady groove of the drums pull things forward. The high/low pitched growls make it sound savage when used in unison. With Violent Caves, Idylls get back to their grinding best. The jangly guitars make a return as do the short blasts.

Heavens Transistors is one of the fastest songs on the record, with a ringing guitar solo slapped in for good measure and a great punky end to it. It leads straight into Teenage Noose, which is another song that really mixes things up, from groove to off-kilter time signatures and vocal effects, this has it all.

Final song Susy is the longest song on the record and just over four minutes. Purely instrumental, it starts with that Western inspired guitar, which conjures visions of a sparse outback full of outlaws and thieves. It has a real brooding atmosphere about it and you’re not quite sure what is going to come after every note and swathe of feedback. It's a calming way to end what's been an absolutely immense album.

Farewell All Joy only lasts around twenty minutes, but in that time leaves you absolutely speechless. The skill of each member to make something sound so together, when seemingly it's miles apart must be applauded. If you're a fan of cutting edge, experimental music that forces you to think, then Idylls are definitely for you.

You can hear two tracks from Farewell All Joy, Paradise of Blood and Swine/Virgins/ Utopiates, via Idylls bandcamp page below:-


If you've enjoyed this review and listened to the tracks above, you can purchase the record in digital for or in lovely vinyl form, from Idylls bandcamp page.

Farewell All Joy was put out by Monolith and Tenzenmen records. Links to their sites are below:-

http://monolithmonolith.com/
http://www.tenzenmen.com/

Idylls can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/idyllsidylls.

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