Labels: Contraszt! – Halo Of Flies – MxFxL
Review by: Oli Saunders
It’s been a while since I’ve checked out any Gattaca releases. They’ve put out a 7” in the meantime and, recently, this LP. (Also in the meantime, Gattaca the film has become one of my favourites. Check it out.) It’s a fairly short affair, with six songs typically at the four minute mark. Fairly typical for this style of music and makes it a shorter series of musical jabs to your ears.
Gattaca play a kind of crust-inspired screamo but they manage to avoid sounding like the other bands that tried this a few years ago, such as Alpinist and November 13th. I quite like those bands by the way. But Gattaca’s sound was refreshing and they were doing their own thing with it. Things haven’t changed much and this is solid stuff. But in all honesty it doesn’t excite me as much as it used to, possibly because my tastes have changed somewhat. ‘Panoptikon’ is a highlight, with a great opening that teeters and teeters until it goes over the edge and the intensity ramps up. This is something the band have excelled at in the past too. Once they get going it’s all in full swing; I love the fast paced tempo; I like the vocals but I think it’s where the problem lies – they are a bit too constant in their output and need to change up now and then. They produce a constant low-pitched and hoarse growling sound. It gets a little monotonous. The penultimate track showcases a change having said that; there is a build up period and the singer goes for a higher pitch – it’s wonderful and I’d like to see more of this sort of thing. Overall, a decent offering.
23rd August 2015