Review Summary: Boring sludge riffs. Nothing more, nothing less.
The broad realm of instrumental music arguably boasts some of the most emotive material ever produced. Through its abstinence from literary storytelling, an infinite world of possibilities is opened, empowering individuals to create their own story based on what emotional evocations are experienced. Whether it be the soothing melancholy of post-rock, the euphoric heights of EDM or rousing, battle-charge classical, the common denominator is the energy harboured within, boasting potential to completely grip listeners with mesmerising soundscapes. Some genres face greater challenges than others in successfully transfixing audiences and when considering heavy metal along with its seemingly infinite number of derivatives, the challenge is kicked up a notch with instrumental endeavours having to compensate for the absence of a commanding vocalist. While numerous bands have experienced success in this respect by shrouding their material in chilling atmospheric cloaks or flaunting mind-pickling levels of virtuosity, Ajeno has opted for neither approach when creating its eponymous debut album.
Ajeno offers a simple package of rocking sludge riffs and fill-heavy drumming which, although competently performed, are sadly lacklustre in terms of atmosphere or emotion.
The sharp, menacing riffage of opener “Erosionan” makes a promising start but the song lacks development, quickly running out of steam as the riffs simply repeat multiple times over. This theme continues throughout the front half of the album with each track relying on a couple of stock riffs, churned out in repeated cycles. This formulaic structure causes
Ajeno to suffer as the lyricless verse/chorus patterns prevent it from taking you on a wondrous instrumental journey, instead sounding like a partially completed recording to which a vocalist has not yet contributed. The worst offender is “Salvajes” which rumbles along awkwardly, repeating the same basic grooves and riffs, managing to rapidly outstay its welcome despite its meagre sub-four-minute length. The second half of the album is marginally stronger with a couple of tracks showing a smidgeon of variety. The mildly progressive guitar work and technical drumming featured on “Incoherentes” and album closer “Evolución” would not sound out of place on Mastodon’s 2006 opus
Blood Mountain and are easily the most enjoyable tracks that
Ajeno has to offer. Unfortunately, it’s too little, too late and ultimately fails to save the album from stagnation.
These guys clearly know how to play their instruments and have the foundations of a solid sludge metal outfit but
Ajeno cannot escape from its blaringly obvious shortfall in emotionally evocative output. Despite being rich in tight, groove-laden riffs, it feels more like the skeleton of an album than a finished product. It would undoubtedly pay dividends if the band invested in a roaring vocalist to enhance their sound in future.
