Qwertyy's Journal of Music Reviews and Other Assorted Ramblings

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 11-28-2016, 06:05 PM

Alec K. Redfearn & The Seizures - Exterminating Angel
Recommended by grindy

grindy is yet to recommend me a bad album, and I'm hoping this one will see the trend continue. Not familiar with the artist, but RYM has this tagged as avant-folk which certainly intrigues me.

Voice to Skull: The first thing that stands out to me is the vocals. For awhile I thought there was some sort of effect on them, but I'm second guessing that now. Hmm, I really like this. It's dark, dreary, and kind of spooky. I wouldn't exactly think of this as avant-folk but it's pretty good nonetheless. I love how they manage to use the accordion without making it feel gimmicky and quirky.

Isle of Swine: Speaking of accordion, that's how we're picking things up on this track. This track reminds me a lot of the Only A Mother album you rec'd me. The male singer is starting to remind me of Isaac Brock from Modest Mouse. I love the short instances of intensity backed with the electric guitar. Another good track.

Rise: This track kicked off with a garage rock vibe, interesting transition from the first two tracks. There's some seriously awesome musicianship on display, this track almost boarders on being metal? Wow, incredible. I could do without the female vocals to be honest, but that's a fairly minor critique.

Elzebet: Very slow build during the intro of this song. Perhaps my least favourite track so far, it doesn't seem to excite in the way that the earlier cuts did. I do enjoy it though, it's rather hypnotizing during the instrumental bits.

The Picture: This has a similar eerie feeling to the opening track. Very atmospheric and dense, I could imagine someone walking through a dimly lit forest while this played. I struggle to pay much attention to lyrics on my first listens, but this album seems to contain some very... interesting ones to say the least. Might warrant a second lesson for that reason alone.

Gesualdo: A little avant-garde inspired guitar at the beginning. Transitions into some beautiful guitar work while the singer tells a tale about murdering his wife? You know, from the lyrics I've picked up so far death and murder seems to be a rather large theme. Definitely works alongside the dark and dreary instrumentation.

The Hole: Probably my least favourite cut on the record. Not bad, but at 7 minutes long it failed to really impress me in the same manor that the other tracks have.

Maria: Already on the last track; this album has flown by. I love the vocal melody on this one. Some great lyrics as well. This one reminds me a bit of Modest Mouse as well. Not a bad way to close the album by any means.

Final Verdict: That may just pass Bob Drake as my favourite album discovered through this journal. Top to bottom there are very few issues with this album. The part I've loved about your recs up to this point is how they artists have managed to always incorporate instruments like accordions, cellos, saxophones, xylophones, and just about anything and everything else in prominent roles while keeping the music very upbeat and fun. I wish this album was on Spotify because I plan to come back to it again multiple times, but it's certainly worth the extra effort just to hear it.

Pass