KLIMT 1918
Dopoguerra
7.4
Gustav Klimt was a painter who died in 1918, hence the rock group KLIMT 1918's moniker. According to their website, some of the members once played in a progressive death metal band, and considering that Edge of Sanity, Katatonia, and Opeth are all named as bands which the members enjoy, KLIMT 1918 obviously know a thing or two about metal. However, the band play alternative rock which sounds quite a lot like U2. I’m having quite a lot of trouble reviewing this album, because I know so little about the genre. Alternative rock is a category into which any number of bands fall, and I must admit that I would have trouble naming alternative bands, or even describing what the style sounds like. I can’t really offer comparisons, I don’t know what a good album of the genre is meant to sound like, and I’m not familiar with the musical terminology to describe the group’s material. There’s nothing here which I could call brutal, technical, raw, intense, or down tuned. In short, the adjectives that I am used to using in order to gauge a band’s performance have no meaning in this context. All I can say is that if you enjoy some of that modern rock that usually gets played on the radio, you should look out for KLIMT 1918's music. Perhaps if you are looking for some relaxing easy listening you should do the same.
I can tell that KLIMT 1918 are good when it comes to composition. Each song is varied, and the band avoids aimless meandering, while also staying out of the verse-chorus-verse trap that most popular music succumbs to. It’s also pretty guitar-driven; you might even say that the guitars play a more prominent role than the vocals. Of course, that’s perfectly normal for metal, but unusual for modern rock. Honestly, it’s a bit of a misstep, because their singer, who also does some of the guitars, has a great voice. From a metal perspective, I like it just fine, but if I was a mainstream critic I’d probably want the singer mixed higher. The lyrics seem to be mostly in English, though the frontman switches to his native Italian when he wants a bit of extra impact. I wonder whether this music is popular in Italy - I could imagine some of it being played on American radio, even though it’s much more involved than most of the mindless tripe which has kept me from turning on the FM over the past few years. From a personal standpoint, I don’t really enjoy the music, but I can tell that it’s well put together. As far as musicianship goes, this is not near the same level as most metal bands. However, the band is tight and precise, so they’ll get a pretty good musicianship score. The mix, which I’ve mentioned, is near perfect. It’s really well done, and my only complaint is that the vocals need to be more audible.
Though the band describe themselves as “emotional and uncomfortable,” the average metalhead shouldn’t find this too difficult. The thing is, however, that the average metalhead probably wouldn’t enjoy this stuff. I know that I don’t like it particularly. I tried to review this album from an objective perspective, and I can tell that the band is very good at the style they play. My personal opinion is that Dopoguerra is dead boring. It was challenging for me to listen to this once, not because it was overwhelming, but because it was the opposite: I found myself getting distracted from the music and tuning it out. I see it as little more than background music, but a modern rock fan might think it was just about the most interesting thing they’d ever heard. I just don’t know, because as I have said, I don’t understand the genre. The best thing you can do is to look out for an mp3 sample of this somewhere. If it’s to your liking, check Dopoguerra out. If not, simply disregard all of this and listen to Deeds of Flesh instead – I know it’s what I felt like doing.
