Altere
My Blood, My Tears
6.4
If members of Agalloch, My Dying Bride, Katatonia, and Enya (the latter two being major, self-proclaimed influences) were to engage in bloodletting, fill Altere with the ruddy liquid, and then lock the solo artist in a room with various musical equipment, I’m sure My Blood, My Tears is what would be cut to tape. All in all, this little excursion is proficient enough to warrant minor praise. However, there are a handful of conspicuous errors that plague the release as a whole.
It is said that Altere – to paraphrase – write songs off-the-cuff, and furthermore compose them in an hour’s length of time. As you may surmise from the preceding statement, the tunes grace the public with little to no molestation, and I can’t tell whether the above methods resulted from being pretentious, lazy, apathetic, skilled, or any combination of the four. Housed on My Blood, My Tears are three, well-paced compositions that last, on average, about three minutes each. Altere’s vocals seem to iterate sincere, dejected feelings, but are rarely ever louder than a whisper like on “My Suicide Note.” “I Just Don’t Know” is different insomuch that the vocals’ reverberations heighten their volume and lasting presence. And, the melody at the beginning of “A Study of a Broken Mind” is incredibly similar to – if not the same as – that of Zao’s “Violet,” which is a piano-led instrumental that appeared on 1998’s Where Blood and Fire Bring Rest.
At any rate, I admire Altere’s boldness in their recording modus operandi, but I’m 100% sure that these songs would benefit from spotty editing and necessary retooling. My Blood, My Tears is basically guitars, ambient effects, and downtrodden vocals melded into one piece. Those interested in hearing this for yourself are encouraged to visit the band’s official MySpace profile at the following location: www.myspace.com/alteremotion. All others should just go eat a sandwich or something.
