Albums

Album Review: The Mirimar Disaster

[Album: Volumes]
[Label: Undergroove Records]

I haven’t heard such a good set of accomplished tracks on a band’s second release like this, and from such a blatantly talented brisket of musicians, for a while. The Mirimar Disaster have been touring and recording since 2004 and formed out of various bands. Their sound is a conglomerate of various aspects of metal from the intense overdriven and jagged hardcore of Converge, to the melodic complexity of Mastodon. Despite this mini-album having a duration just shy of half-an-hour, it is a creative and powerful set of tracks, masterfully produced and recorded.

‘Alms For Strangers’ starts the mini-album. It’s an instrumental track full of layers of ascending chordal structures and twisted melodies. It’s aggressive yet controlled and the guitars are overdriven and coarse like Kurt Ballou’s and do not sound like that lead metal OTT tone you often hear. There are not too many discernable differences in tone throughout the album, even though the band used various combinations and amps cabs through recording. Sometimes a release with such promise can be let down by drumming that does not seem as inventive as the guitar/bass playing. However, Iain ‘Slomo’ Scott’s intuitive drum skills are more than a match for Dean Rowbotham and Frank Forman’s guitar playing; they are just as technical and precise.

‘Control. Alt. Delete’ (a track about “the destruction of old and the constant regeneration of society”) enters the realm of progressive metal. It is a suffocating mix of a Mastodon sense of melodic interplay and Neurosis-inspired forcefulness. ‘The Town Of Empty Sound’ is a very different track. With guest vocals from Maria Christopher and a slow, acoustic build up it is in stark difference to the previous onslaught. The percussion on this track has a definite influence from past tour mates 65daysofstatic.

This short, intense burst of northern alternative metal has to be one of the jewels in the crown for Undergroove Records.

For Fans Of: Neurosis, Mastodon, 65daysofstatic

Band Link:
The Mirimar Disaster

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