Tidal Arms - s/t - Download (2013)

Labels: Black Numbers
Review by: Alex Deller

Well, here’s another one of those ‘solid enough’ modern metal albums. They’ve made it nice and easy for time-pressed reviewer scum like me by concocting something that’s pretty much mid-way between Torche and High On Fire, albeit maybe with a dab of late 90s/early 00s Mans Ruin or Meteor City (think maybe Operator Generator, if that’s not too obscure a reference) thrown in for good measure. That means plenty of riffs, no small amount of tunefulness and an ear for the expansive that ensures there’s more to things than plain ol’ roughhousing. It’s the kind of thing I can happily sling on when I have another task at hand, but not one for when I want a careful, immersive listen: it needs to be heavier and pack more songwriting punch for that, and while it’s easy enough on my damaged ears I think they’ve got a way to go before they craft anything genuinely gripping.