Review Summary: Rishloo’s third album Feathergun is a good, if not perfect, conclusion to what has been an outstanding year for music.
After releasing their second full length
Eidolon Rishloo became somewhat of an enigma. Playing multi-layered, melancholic progressive rock, it is difficult to see Rishloo become a mainstay in any mainstream commercial outlet and yet the inherent quality woven through the unsigned Seattle quartet is undeniable and points to an assured future prosperity. On their debut
Terras Fames Rishloo unashamedly wore their influences on their sleeves and while the album itself was a success,
Eidolon took the band one step further and away from directly copying their influences. While still heavily reliant on the styling’s of musicians such as Maynard James Keenan among others, Rishloo were less heavy handed in their approach and produced a much improved record. The band toured relentlessly, supporting acts such as Fair To Midland as well as self-promoting their own headlining shows to bring
Eidolon to a larger audience, and in late 2008 the band re-entered the studio with plans to write and record a third studio album. After developing at such a steep incline, there was always going to be huge expectation within the bands fan base and while
Feathergun doesn’t explicitly improve on
Eidolon it sees Rishloo change their formula and create a sound of their own.
Immediate impressions of
Feathergun are that it is an entirely different entity to 2007’s
Eidolon. The dark, moody atmospheres that the band preferred two years ago have been carefully deconstructed and crafted into something completely different. Aside from the rigorously structured songs and unique vocals of Andrew Mailloux the overall sound of
Feathergun couldn’t be further from the last time Rishloo graced our ears, and it is immediately apparent that the main focus of the bands progression has been to place yet more emphasis on the strong vocals and guitars that dominated for long periods throughout
Eidolon. With this said,
Scissorlips opens the album in much the same way that
Shades closed
Eidolon. The track is intrinsically memorable due predominantly to the trademark powerful vocals of Andrew Mailloux, that literally take full control of the song. Obviously intended to be a transitional song,
Scissorlips is abundantly obvious in its similarity to much of
Eidolon and this familiarity is also comforting.
The next few tracks follow
Scissorlips’ lead, and it is not until we get to fourth track
River Of Glass that
Feathergun brings us away from the violent, sometimes spasmodic feel of
Eidolon. The peaceful serenity that is revealed suits the band and it is from this that they produce some of their best material. The dreamlike
River Of Glass shows early promise after the less-than-impressive tracks preceding it. Again the vocals take centre-stage with Mailloux’s various pitch changes only adding to the surreal ambience that surrounds them. Following
River Of Glass we get another disappointingly mediocre track in the form of
Keyhole In The Sky before the albums centrepiece, the shamelessly extravagant and phenomenally gorgeous duo of
Downhill and
Feathergun In The Garden Of The Sun. For the first time in
Feathergun the emphasis shifts from Mailloux’s vocals to the soaring intricacies of David Gillet’s guitar. On top of this, these two tracks also see the band stretch themselves as artists, with
Downhill displaying various guitar techniques and instrumental interludes including breathtaking solo’s on both the piano and the guitar.
Feathergun... continues this musical growth and displays perhaps the bands most mature instrumentation yet. Unpredictably all four members of the band gel in harmony and unlike the majority no attribute of the bands make-up dominates any other.
Of course,
Feathergun is far from a perfect record, and amongst some of the bands best songs are some devastatingly mediocre cuts. On top of this the guitar-vocal prominence throughout the record becomes laborious throughout some of the inferior tracks. While similar to both the band’s previous efforts in terms of importance, Andrew Mailloux’s vocals have improved no further since
Eidolon and although he is undoubtedly a great vocalist he still lacks the conviction to drag the album to its climax. Similarly Gillet’s guitar proficiency is an exceedingly useful weapon in the bands armoury, but the two together overwhelm the timid rhythm section, and it would be nice to see more input from the other two band members. While primarily it is difficult to make out these deficits, over time the deficiencies of
Feathergun become more prominent. Subtle nuances turn into occasional blips while feelings of overawe turn decidedly less impressive. Particularly on the first half of the record, the fluid continuity of individual tracks becomes less apparent, and the rougher transitions disengage the listener.
Turning Sheep To Goats is perhaps the best example of a track succumbing to mediocrity; the highly-charged, aggressive musicianship seems a fresh take on the band’s sound until it becomes evident that like
Scissorlips before it, the track seems to needlessly cling to the last remaining remnants of
Eidolon.
In spite of this,
Feathergun is an excellent release from the Seattle boys. Amidst feelings of disappointment, and the soft shattering of sky high expectations, it is all too easy to forget that Rishloo are an independent self-promoted band with virtually no mainstream appeal. The musical themes that the band have explored throughout
Feathergun show that they are far from exhausted in the ideas department and while some of the tracks cling to the past a little too much, the majority of the album points towards a glowing future for the band. With
Feathergun Rishloo have finally found their niche in an ever expanding genre and have created some of the best tracks of 2009. From the ambient solitude of
River Of Glass to the aching beauty of
Katsishuka each track offers something unique to the album and with crystal clear production completing the puzzle it would not be surprising to see this creep onto many an end-of-year list.
Recommended Tracks
River Of Glass
Downhill
Feathergun In The Garden Of The Sun
Katsushika
Overall 4.0 Excellent
