Amazing review from "Rock Freaks"

name - Internet Killed The Audiostar
Written by: TL on 14/6-10 at 00:18:09


Hello readers. My name is Tim, and once upon a time I was a writer with this fine site. Nowadays, it's been weeks since my last real contribution, something I aim to change right now, through the production of a review I have long owed the band known merely as name, namely that of their recent début "Internet Killed The Audiostar". Truth be told, with them peddling some very ambitious mathcore, I never seemed the most apt for the task, yet somehow this record managed to force an unusual number of plays through my trusty headphones. Let's see if I can explain why that is:

For the majority of its length, "Internet Killed The Audiostar" displays as uncompromising a will to defy expectations, as a an album by a band so cheekily named could be expected. The core sound is visceral, chaotic mathcore, bringing to mind the music of The Dillinger Escape Plan, appearing purposefully ridiculous in its technicality, and changing in rhythm and structure, so fast that even the most impatient listeners should be left breathless on several occasions.

Fortunately, at least the way I see it, name are not settling for simply melting your face with a relentless barrage of insanity. Oh no, instead, they'd rather go all Between The Buried And Me on you when you least suspect it, introducing lengthy periods of easily accessible bass grooves, clean Mike Patton-esque singing, jazzy experimentation, bright tremolo riffing, majestic chord progressions, or even new rave-ish electronics. These zones of oddity appear as tranquil little oasises, eyes of the proverbial storms that make up the mainstay of name's sonic universe, and in the contrast between the two approaches, the band draws its strength.

It is this contrast that reveals that name are somewhat more ambitious than your regular noise-worshipers and that they are more keen on defying attempts at labeling them. By balancing chaos with calm, each appear all the stronger. However, being this hellbent on defying convention also means that structurally, "Internet Killed The Audiostar" is the nightmare of the sensible listener. I've heard this disc more times than I care to count, and while many individual bits are recognizable by now, the grand idea of it all certainly still eludes me. In the first place it's going to require of you that you're used to listening to bands like TDEP, BTBAM and The Ocean to even consider it music for your ears, and even then, you're looking on dozens of listens ahead of you, if you want to see if there's more to appreciate this for than the immediate aggression and seeming randomness. Still, though I can't quite seem to explain why, the one clear vibe I get from this record is that it is quality stuff, coming from a genre where I usually have trouble finding any. Call it reviewer's instinct or whatever, but I'll recommend this, even without really knowing why. [7½]

Download: Killer Whales, Man; Charmer
For The Fans Of: The Dillinger Escape Plan, Between The Buried And Me, The Ocean
Listen: myspace.com/name

Release Date 19.04.2010
Lifeforce Records



Actual review here: http://www.rockfreaks.net/index.php?page=albumreviews&id=2900