The Sontaran Experiment - S/T
The Sontaran Experiment pull one of my all time least favorite tricks on this record, and make it work better than almost anyone else I've ever heard do it.
That kind of sums up this record: pulling everything off, no matter how improbable it sounds.
This is a ridiculously ambitious record, with three 20-minute long, epics tracks, dozens of riffs piled on top of each other, all kinds of effects and soundscapes going on, and even what sound like a few samples at some points. Overall, it's about as dense as records come.
Most bands can't really pull a record like this off. To take all this chaos and make it interesting. The Sontaran Experiment, however, absolutely blew my mind on every second of this album.
My aforementioned least favorite trick is when a band is REAL quiet, and then goes into a noisy grind part. I've heard so many bands try and pull that off and fuck it up royally. I feel like I can always see the strings, you know? It almost always winds up reeking of self-impressed posturing, and never has the desired effect. I don't think "WHOA DUDE! THEY WERE QUIET AND NOW THEY'RE TOTALLY GRINDING MY FACE OFF!!!" Instead, I usually think "really, guys? That's what you think is clever?"
The only band I'd ever heard really pull this off well was My Lai, who were so fucking tight and so fucking talented that they could pretty much do anything. The Sontarna Experiment, however, are able to pull the same trick and keep the flow going incredibly well. Rather than sounding forced or cheesy it sounds real intense and punishing.
Let me back up, though.
For most of this record, the Sontaran Experiment kind of drones on with a noisy, doomy kind of thing. Real thick riffs, often a lot of ambient keyboards, and some pretty decent, effects-laden vocals They also break it up with long stretches of ambient quiet and pounding thrash and grind, however, without any of it feeling like you're suddenly listening to a different band.
That's really what allows them to pull off such a varied sound over the course of this record without it becoming irritating. They whole thing is so dense and noisy and suffocating that really, anything they do, as long as it's fits their oppressive framework, tends to sound like it fits. This record is really one of the most punishingly noisy things I've heard in a long time, and it definitely works to their advantage.
I really can't recommend this record enough. Probably one of the more innovative metal records I've heard in a long time. If you want to check out some heavy shit that sounds like a lot of thought went into it, you've definitely found your band in The Sontaran Experiment.
The Sontaran Experiment
The Sontaran Experiment
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login or register to post comments Submitted by herry on Fri, 2010-07-30 11:56.