Achilles
The Dark Horse
6
Being a fan of Greek Mythology, I had high hopes for this release, but alas like the movie Troy, I was a bit let down as Achilles, despite some positives is another noisy, shout laden, discordant post Converge clone that stomps and flails with convincing bravado. They never rise above anything more than a second tier chaoscore/hardcore band with dreams of Converge and Coalesce dancing in their head.
It’s not the worst form of this style I’ve heard and its 27 minute brevity is certainly purveyed with a sense of conviction, but there’s nary a memorable or truly impressive moment within the album’s ten bursts of angular, choppy hysterics. To their credit, unlike the recent effort by Violent Marv, Achilles pretty much stay on track with their chosen form of musical chaos from beginning to end with virtually no adventurous or quirky tangents, The Dark Horse just pretty much lurches and entangles from track to track with a forgetful if forceful determination. Also to their credit, the band's complexity isn’t forced or overdone as this isn’t really math metal, but more like simple arithmetic metal, it's convoluted but not brain freezingly so, Achilles are smartly tempered with their tantrums.
Vocalist Rory Vangrol has the expected throaty, angsty shout, free from clean tangents, so that’s a plus and the riffs rumble with a suitable understated presence that isn’t over produced or too grainy. The band can handle their instruments and do all the right things to make this a solid release, but there is just ‘something’ missing. Tracks like “Wake me When it Thunders”, “Rushmore, “Talons” and to be honest the other 7 tracks, stagger and scream with a certain appeal, but it's not an album I feel the need to listen to again past review purposes, even if I recommend it to fans of the genre.
Not bad, but not a real eye opener either, something an album of this style really has to be to garner more than a curiosity listen or score from me.
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AchillesHospice
5/8/2007