Release
date: February 05th
2016. Label: Self Released. Format: CD/DD
Chromaparagon
– Tracklisting
1.Queen
Wolf
2.Offered
Blood
3.Igneous
4.Little
Witch
5.Bats
in the Attic
6.Forgive
Me Snake Ryder
7.Chroma
8.Vesuvius
I
9.Vesuvius
II
10.Belt
Squeezer
11.Death
and the Vibrant Architecture of Rebirth
12.White
Stag
Band
Members:
John
Carbone – Vocals
Nick
Lee – Guitar & Vocals
Ray
Marte – Drums & Vocals
Vincent
Romanelli – Bass
Review:
A
lot can be said about Moon Tooth’s debut album Chromaparagon.
Progressive, Complex, Challenging, Creative, Exhausting but perhaps
the best way to describe it is – Chromaparagon is perhaps one of
the most clever and devilishly fun debut albums I’ve heard in a
while. It’s not going to be for everyone. If you’re a fan of
Mastodon, At The Drive-In, The Mars Volta and perhaps even Dillinger
Escape Plan then you will find much to enjoy here.
Moon
Tooth deserves credit for trying something different with their
music. Stoner, Doom, Sludge, Prog Rock, Math Rock and even Thrash
makes an appearance on the album. Opening track – Queen Wolf –
matches the ferocious heaviness of Mastodon with the quick witted
intelligence of The Mars Volta but the band still create their own
original sound. The vocals are one of the most impressive things on
the album as lead vocalist shows his impressive vocal range – Prog
Rock, Thrash and even a touch of alt-rock style vocals with a deep
haunting edge. When the riffs change from Prog Rock to a more
bombastic Sludge based groove then the album changes mood and
direction.
The
album has a schizophrenic approach as the band can’t decide if they
want to be Prog Rock, Prog Sludge or a straight out experimental alt
rock/metal band. Second track – Offered Blood – feels it could
have came off from At The Drive-In classic album – Relationship Of
Command. It has the same complex melodies and intriguing story that
album has but as I’ve said before Moon Tooth make this their own
sound. The song has quite a doomy outlook with different noises and
riffs being played against each other.
Third
track – Igneous – once again challenges the audience’s
perception of what genres do these guys fall under. It’s a stunning
track and one that shows off each member musical talents with the
vocals almost being drowned out by the frantic riffs. You can start
to hear traces of thrash based riffs in the background before the
band adds almost sinister psych/blues rock noises.
I’ll
be here all day if I try to explain every single song. Let’s just
say the rest of the album carries on the experimental progressive
nature of the first three songs as the band create heavier and
sometimes disturbing moments of Prog Rock/Metal. Check out the fourth
song – Little Witch – which is perhaps the most straight forward
Hard Rock/Stoner Rock song on the album. It’s a nice contrast to
the opening songs but the vocals take a sinister turn at different
times and I never expected the Thin Lizzy dual guitar style melodies
towards the end.
Other
songs to check out are Forgive Me Snake Ryder, Vesuvius I, Vesuvius
II and perhaps the standout track on the album – White Stag. White
Stag is on for eleven minutes and Moon Tooth unleashes a sonic
progressive masterpiece onto the world. It’s a complex and
challenging listen as the band create moments of Mastodon style epic
prog rock/metal madness with moments of sheer genius especially with
the lyrics and vocal delivery.
Maybe
the band has included a few too many songs but it doesn’t deter
from the fact that Chromaparagon is a beautifully created and perhaps
slightly demented album at the same time. As I said before this isn’t
going to be to everyone’s taste. You need to invest a lot of time
with this album as it’s full of great ideas that a few listens is
never enough. If you have the time and patience for a challenging
album such as this then you will be rewarded with a trippy as hell
progressive experience. An outstanding debut album.
Words
by Steve Howe
Thanks
to Moon Tooth and Curran Reynolds for the promo. Chromaparagon will
be available to buy on CD/DD from February 5th 2016.
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