Review Summary: Heavy? Check. Angry? Check. Metal? Check.
What’s initially striking about A Moment Lost’s debut is just how heavy they are, given their location. A strange thing to pick up on, you might think, but Kendal isn’t associated with metal. To be honest, it isn’t associated with much at all. Indie rockers British Sea Power might call it home, but beyond that... Mint cake? Perhaps A Moment Lost have what it takes to put Kendal on the map.
The band have been quietly (well…) doing their thing for a while now, going through name and line up changes over the years. Since settling on their current name in 2010, the group has worked up a steady following, playing shows with the likes of Cancer Bats and Forever Never. It’s been a long ride, but 2012 sees the release of their debut full length, So Hold Your Breath, and it’s long overdue.
Opening track So Hold Your Breath gives a great indication of what's in store here. A wall of guitars and drums burst into motion, accompanied by Strepsil-inducing vocals. There’s hooks aplenty here too, a rare occurrence in this kind of metal. Vocalist Sam Hunter sounds genuinely pissed off, which is only emphasised by the raw nature of the production. Kudos must also go to guitarists Louis Jeffries and Andy Jackson; there’s some fine guitar work to be found here.
Waves ushers itself in with a moody sample of - you guessed it - waves. Cliché aside, it’s an unrelenting whirl of a song; think the bastard lovechild of Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive. Other songs such as Our Digital Heartbeat, Colours and Skies Turn Red tear into existence - and I mean tear - leaving little room for so much as a breath. It’s difficult to use the word ‘brutal’ to describe metal, it kinda comes with the territory... And yet, listening on through this album it’s difficult not to apply it. Really - there’s no other word. There’s a riff for every occasion here, too; hardly a song on the album is lacking a hummable, noddable hook. And, Hell, there’s some serious grooves, kept locked in by a mighty fine rhythm section. You’ll continually find yourself nodding (read banging) your head or tapping your foot, with that customary metal grin plastered on your face.
This album is raw. Like, Hell’s Kitchen raw (Google it). If you’re into the fine dining of metal - what with your steaks sliced and your burgers with salad (so to speak) - well, this isn’t for you. The drums sound a little uneven in the mix, and the guitars can sometimes feel a bit muddy, not leaving space for the grooves to breathe. The vocals can at times feel unrelenting too, with little change in pitch or delivery. You could argue that the lyrics are a tad cringey, perhaps scenester-y. But this doesn’t really matter, and frankly, it's just being picky. Arguably this kind of metal loses its character when it’s polished to a sheen. It’s built for purpose, not for squeaky clean consumption. Metal these days is often squeaky clean, so it's a refreshing change of pace to hear something quite so... Dirty.
Here's a potential minor gripe: the band wear their influences on their sleeves - sometimes for better or worse. This is old school metal core, with lashings of Machine Head grooves. That’s all well and good. The problem is that the band are sometimes dangerously reminiscent of their influences. No One Else To Blame springs to mind, with echoes of Killswitch Engage and Parkway Drive peppering the song’s intro. It’s a fine line to walk, but the band manage to stamp their identity on the remainder of the track, ripping out one monster groove in the process.
At a decent length of ten tracks, it’s difficult to pick out favourites here. Colours stands out for its killer groove and uber chorus; We Left No Survivors has an addictive thrashy flavour; Escape Your Mistakes is a lesson in pure groove. Speaking of groove, it goes without saying that there’s some brilliant drumming on this album. Actions (Consequences) stands out for that very reason, and it’s arguably the highlight of the album because of it. Those first thirty seconds are just plain...Brutal.
So Hold Your Breath is a great album. It’s not perfect, by any means, but when it get things right, it stands itself out from the crowd. It’s an example of how there are some great bands out there, plugging away, just waiting to be discovered. It’s also a mighty fine metal record, which helps. If you're looking for a pure, unadulterated metal album this year, you could far, far worse than to check this out.
