If you are the kind of a person that thought the 2011 releases by the likes of Ana Kefr or Unexpect were just too much, too chaotic and too avant garde, just go ahead and leave now. Go on! You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
On the other hand, if you thrive on those sort of mind blowing, genre shredding releases, stick around to discover Californian trio Einvera and their rather mind blowing genre shredding debut.
Einvera is the sort of a band that would have been perfect on The End Records’ roster back in the late ’90s/early ’00s — back when they were awesome and signed genre shattering, experimental metal bands that simply didn’t fit on other labels. My immediate comparison to the the two bands mentioned in the opening paragraph (and maybe La Masquerade Infernale -era Arcturus?), is admittedly mere laziness on my part,as well as a simple lack of these kinds of bands to compare to. Spazzy, chaotic, yet beautiful and well constructed, Einvera are one of those grind, thrash, accordion, prog, black metal acts that you simply cannot pigeonhole into a single label. Throw in spurts of flamenco, banjo, fugal horn,vibraphone, accordion, mandolin, glockenspiel, toy Piano, several vocal styles, a frenzied carnival atmosphere and the ends result is going to be one of those divisive, love it or hate it affairs.
However, amid all the fever dream like, surreal music are moments of distinct and melodic, even somber clarity. Look no further than the album’s three standouts “Let in Without a Name (Sea of Trees)” , “Prismatic Distortion” and the title track and you’ll discover some truly brilliant pieces of music that will captivate you amid the otherwise ADD-addled kaleidoscope of tripped out, gypsy-carnival- core . “Let in Without a Name (Sea of Trees)” opens with Morricone trumpet over the album’s most straight forward, rock based track. Then about 2: 30 and 5:30 into the title track, the band unleash a sublime melancholic doomy section that could have come from Finland.
And while the rest of the material is more chaotic, a simple casual listen will miss so much. Under the riffs there’s often so much happening as trumpets bleat and the toy piano tinkles in the background, unraveling so much more than scatter shot music and an avant garde barrage or noise. The likes of string heavy opener “Invariably Transient”, “Static Ascension”, “The Gift of a Ghost” and down home ditty “Send me Home” will initially blur by in maelstrom of experimental see how much sticks -noise, but the musical onion that is Einvera is so much more.
Not forgetting the fact that indeed, the music is simply top notch, though as par for the genre, naysayers will say musicianship is nothing without memorable songs. I say these guys have the balance to please both needs. Plus, cement all that with the fact that this is a self-released album and you simply have to admit being impressed whilst hoping for a label to get a hold of these guys very soon.
[Visit the band's website]
Find more articles with 2011, Avant-Garde/Experimental, E.Thomas, Einvera, Review, Self-Released
haha, yeah, this is nutso.
on Oct 7th, 2011 at 09:59