Static Tension
Ashes to Animation

This album has a bird of the Corvus variety on its cover, could that suggest something croaky in terms of music? I kind of like that cover, simplistic and nice even though it may not really represent the style of music on offer. It is the first album by this band, at least as far as I can deduce, they have two EPs prior to it, the first one released in 2015. Some describes it as impossible to pigeonhole in terms of genre and that sort of thing, a unique style according to some sources. So how about it then?

It is not so easy to place it in a genre but I think grunge comes to mind. They have a fairly fresh sense with inspiration from classics like Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath but also the more modern grunge and progressive touches shine through here. They do have their own style, but it also sounds quite familiar, you could claim that they make something of their own out of something quite familiar. The vocalist is quite good, a bit grungy perhaps but he shows a wide vocal range over the album. I also think that the songs show quite good variation but as the tempo is quite low and similar over all ten tracks it doesn’t really seem that varied at first glance. And I do think that the album feels a tad long playing for 57 minutes, they could have shortened it.

The album is good I think, the songs are good and they do have their own style not quite fitting into the standard formats used to label music of similar type. Alternative rock. There are parts to improve though, many of the songs are bit on the long side, half of them are over six minutes and they often have some quite uninteresting parts here and there making the album linger a bit longer than it should have. They could have varied the tempo more as well adding a bit more depth, it is positive that they have done their own thing but it still sounds rather familiar so the songs have to shine and they don’t really do – they are good but not outstanding.

So, in the end I think that the album is a good one; a debut album that promises a little bit more than it delivers. I think that if they manage to iron out the little issues they have, with the long songs and long playing time and the static feel of the music they will be capable of making something very interesting in the future. Nevertheless, I think that Static Tension has put together an album that could be well worth checking out; you can sample it in the player below this text.

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