Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire - Songs of Ill Hope & Desperation
Rating
RIYL
MarutaLeng Tch’e
Mumakil
Release Date
06/08/2010
Label
Prosthetic RecordsTracklist
1. Teeth & Hair2. Cloven
3. I Walked Away From The Human Race
4. Shat Out My Bones
5. Gold Frankincense & Myth
6. Recession
7. Piss
8. Bouquet Of Self Pity
9. Leather Hands
10. Made Of Coal
11. They Smeared Shit On Their Skin So They Could Blend In At Night
12. Empty
13. Remove The Light
Users RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Your RatingCreate an account or log in to rate this album |
Recent additions to the Prosthetic Records roster, Denver’s Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire offer a fairly innovative take on metal that mixes the frenzied grind of Discordance Axis with the rumbling lurches of a group like Reverend Bizarre and other doom-oriented groups. Though not quite experienced enough to string together a full album of top-notch tracks, the group’s innovative approach to a stale genre shows ample room for growth and provides enough headbanging moments on Songs of Ill-Hope and Desperation to keep things interesting.
The incorporation of discordant, sludgy passages provides a surprising compliment to the group’s blasting, rapid-fire grindcore attack. CTTOAFF’s songwriting is at its best when smoothly transitioning between the two distinct styles, though the bludgeoning approach is actually the more effective of the two. Filled with dissonant riffs and Ethan McCarthy’s maniacal, high-pitched rasps, the group’s forays into doomier territory often provide a welcome respite to their somewhat generic up-tempo stylings.
Tracks like “Teeth and Hair,” “Piss” and “Empty” showcase the group’s ability to ratchet up the BPMs at will, while “Gold Frankincense & Myth” offers the album’s most impressive melding of genres by incorporating a bit of d-beat, crust and a hint of black metal into the album’s already unorthodox sound. Several songs lull the listener into a false sense of calm before exploding into a frantic pace that generally closes tracks. The group’s songwriting does grow somewhat predictable as it becomes clear that eventually the slower tracks will deteriorate into a cacophonous wall of sound, and vice versa. Having said that, each song rarely overstays its welcome and maintains an impressive level of intricacy that keep the slight redundancy from hindering the any overall enjoyment of the album.
Though they’re far from the hallowed ground tread upon by the likes of Gadget, Rotten Sound, Afgrund, Phobia and Sayyadina, Clinging to the Trees of a Forest Fire have the potential to leave a significant imprint on the American grindcore scene. Keeping in mind that Songs of Ill Hope and Desperation is only their second release, it’s likely that the group will settle more comfortably into their sound and perhaps explore their sludgier inclinations even further on future releases. Not a “must buy” album but definitely a group to keep an eye on.
--Matt Murphy
Comments