Red Square - We Come In Waves

Albenrezension

Italian quintet At the Soundawn reportedly slaved (or slacked, who can be sure?) for some two years to compose the songs that make up their enigmatically named debut, Red Square: We Come in Waves — and one would almost say it was worth it...if their music wasn't so derivative of the many bands that came before them: Isis, Mogwai, Red Sparowes, Cult of Luna, etc., etc. OK, so the Italians still deserve some credit, merely because of the demanding nature of the progressive metal-gaze terrain on which they travel, but without the novel sonic aesthetic (nonexistent) or distinguishing songwriting creativity (sadly, exceedingly rare) which might have lifted them above, or at least to comparable heights as their heroes, are sorely lacking here. What snippets do catch the ear are invariably brief and thus underwhelming, but include the crusty doom riffing unleashed midway through "Submerged," the Spaghetti Western melodies used on "Phone Will," and the funky bassline and Latin flavored percussion driving the instrumental "Sundown in Rome." Most everything else is merely suitable: boasting everything you'd expect from a decent post-metal release (varied textures, unconventional structures, sudden dynamic about-faces), minus the originality required to make it all special. For these reasons, and despite laying a decent foundation here, At the Soundawn will have to try, try again next time to stand out from the crowd.