Editor’s Note: I want to welcome a new contributor to Madness To Creation. This is Skullgurl Metalchick. She will be contributing from time to time on album reviews for Madness To Creation. She is also a contributor for Metal Injection and for Ghost Cult Magazine. Check out her work at those two publications. Here is Skullgurl Metalchick with her debut with her review of YEAR OF THE LOCUST’S Self-Titled EP for Madness To Creation:
I do hundreds of album reviews a year, no joke. To be honest, when I am sent a new release to review I always have an overall feeling of excitement and trepidation. I never know what I am going to hear. I can generally gauge a band by the first song I listen to, and rarely am I surprised by a band. I would like to introduce you the band that did the almost impossible, and surprised me, Year of The Locust. I had been sent their self titled EP a week or so back, and as I always do, I listened to the first single off of it. Well, I thought I listened to it. I categorized the four song EP as “Hard Rock Vanilla” and put it on my list to review. I sat down to do my review today and I put on my very expensive pro headphones and pushed play. About 20 seconds into the first track, “Stay Alive” I had a major case of goosebumps, hell, my goosebumps had goosebumps. I had to double check to make sure that I was listening to the correct release because there was nothing vanilla about the music flooding my headphones, all I was hearing was Hard Rock perfection. Keep reading and I will break it down for you in Skullgurl terms.
The first track, “Stay Alive”, as I mentioned before, is goose bump inducing. This track, frankly will give you an eargasm, no joke. The intro buildup is genius, using vocal tones and a deconstructed melody line evoking anticipation. Vocalist Scotty Mac bares his very soul through his delivery of the lyrics. The aggressive guitar line rises above the melee into the bridge falling back just enough to punctuate the vocal line. This song is a “stand up and fight” song, plain and simple.
Line Em Up, the second track, will cause you to speed if you are driving while listening to it, not even joking. An infinitely tasty hook filled hard rock offering that highlights a rare synchronicity between the vocal and guitar lines. A fast paced ride from beginning to end with little glimpses of sarcasm bleeding through.
The EP’s vibe does a 180 with the third track, Whispers In The Dark. The desperation and longing in vocalist ScottyMac’s voice are palpable. The rhythm line even emits a melancholy sensation as it wraps around the haunting guitar line. Lyrically speaking, this song is a gold mine, plain and simple.
The last track on the EP, “Sorry”, opens hard and heavy tricking the listener into thinking they were in for a fast paced treat, think again. This song is a complex multifaceted portrait of self loathing against a backdrop of a gritty entrancing melody line. If regret had a theme song, it would be this track. Don’t be fooled by my words and think this song is a ballad, it is not. It is a mid-tempo bitter filled admission, lyrically and melodically.
In a nut shell, there is only one real thing wrong with this release, It is not long enough. The good thing about the overall complexity in the production of the EP is that every time I listened to the four tracks, I heard a plethora of new sounds. My closing words about Year Of The Locust are this: Buy the EP. I don’t care if you don’t buy any other music this year, get this EP.
And there you have it! Fans can find YEAR OF THE LOCUST at the following locations:
www.facebook.com/YearoftheLocust
