Labels: Ancient Temple – No List
Review by: Alex Deller
Generally a fan of the No List releases that come my way, but this one loses me a bit. The fundaments are solid enough … a weird, gnarled mix of sludge, grind and noise-rock … but the band’s kleptomaniacal spirit causes them to pick up ideas and sounds with an energy that’s admirable but also rather wearying. Amid the lunk-head riffs and mad blasts of speed appear hints of Torche, Alice In Chains, Envy and System Of A Down, often just for fleeting bursts or the length of a chorus. It’s not that any of this is necessarily bad, but the overall effect is like some sort of skilfully-crafted if ultimately demented patchwork quilt … the kind of thing you can politely admire from a distance, but not an item you’d necessarily want in your own home.