Review on "ALL THE TiME I WAS LISTENING"

07/04/2015 15:12

Sinatras - Six Sexy Songs by EDDIE CARTER

 

It is back to those crazy Italians again! Yes, I have been contacted by Atomic Stuff promotions to continue the Anglo-Italia relations that was started with Embryo, THL and Saints Trade (All linked by their names).  The latest of these Italians to be brought to our attention are from North-Eastern Italy called Sinatras.  Like the Ramones before them, all of them have the surname of Sinatra; before I read the press release, I actually listened to the EP and I pictured their influence list and I got only one wrong.  Their list is Carcass, Entombed, Pantera and Hatebreed; my list had Machine Head instead of Hatebreed, I take that as a result these days.  Anyway, this EP has been released to hopefully pave way for a full album release and to get their name out in the public domain.  Now before I start I just have to mention the cover, it is very deceptive as I was expecting something in a sleazy/glam way and not in a groove/death & roll type of way.  But that said it makes a change from the usual random horror image that comes from the American scene.  So, it is time to look at this EP and see what it is all about….(by the way, we have a different scoring system for EP’s and singles, just to remind people).

With the sound of humanity chatting and talking we are slowly introduced to “Contamination”.  The riff reminds me a bit of Entombed/Carcass and the pace of the song is fast and furious.  I am not keen on the mixture of clean and growling vocals on this one, neither are bad in any shape or form – in fact if it had have been one or the other, it would have worked just as well; but together they do not settle well.  But the song itself is a fast pace shot of nitro to the listener and it is a good opening track.  Second track “Frank Is Back” starts with a Pantera/Machine Head-esque riff, mixed into the grindcore vibe and the industrial/groove metal vibe of the number is quite infectious.  It is more clean vocals on this song than growling and it suits the numbers a lot better, it does not feel as if they are trying to compete with each other.  Coming across with more menace that you find in quite a lot of the current top-tier metal acts, it is quite refreshing to hear a style of music which is usually so self-serving that it almost becomes dated.  Third track “Sunshine” is anything but bright and sunny; it is another beast of a number that actually is more attention grabbing than the first two number if I am honest.  The sick groove of the number is monumental, so simple and yet so effective at the same; it is a quality number that stands out like a gem on this album.

Following on is “The Game” which is probably the most energetic of the numbers, it once more has that death & roll/groove/trash metal thing going on and it has quite a punch to it sound.  I think that they should have went with the growling vocals more on this number, the clean vocals (whilst sounding good) are not amazing as when they let rip with the screams of devils and demons.  It would have turned a good song into a great song; but that middle part is spot on, it sounds like Carcass and Machine Head in a jam with Entombed.  The penultimate track of this ep is called “W.A.F.S.” which starts with the sound of an orchestra coming into a theatre, but a howling guitars, pounding slow bass and drums kick in; the groove is much slower on this number and it is also Stoner in vibes at certain points.  But once the song really kicks in you can see the hardcore vibe of the group take centre stage and whilst it has a few parts which do not quite work, for the best part it does kick ass.  Ending the EP is “All or Nothing” which starts off with a sludge opening before brings the death metal/hardcore/groove cocktail to the mix and with a mosh-starting riff they slowly build up the speed.  Once again, the mixture of clean and growling vocals clash too much for my liking (like a strange Slipknot hybrid on this one) but the music is once again strong enough to make the song interesting and bring the EP to a loud ending.

I think the best way I can describe this EP is that it is a good introduction card; there are a few rough edges to the overall sound of the band which could be changed, but for the most part this is actually a good introduction to the band and their sound.  I'll be interested to see if they go from here, as they do sound very heavy.  For fans of groove metal, hardcore and early Entombed.

3.5 out of five - Decent, getting there

Top track - Sunshine

Review Page Link: https://allthetimeiwaslistening.blogspot.it/2015/04/sinatras-six-sexy-songs.html