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METRUM (Broken) CD

The last Austrian band I've reviewed was Been Obscene and I didn't like them. The progressive rock/metal band METRUM is also from Austria and (you already guess what comes now...) I didn't like their debut 'Broken', too. There are various reasons why this is so. First, the vocals of guitarist Alexander Grössl manage to kill all of my interest within a short time. This is because he tries to sound as emotional and meaningful as possible. His dark voice sounds extremely forced and is imbued with a degree of pathos that is hard for me to endure. If I had my way, I would say: "hey dude, keep cool and stay natural".

Second, the overall production of 'Broken' is too slick. You could also say that it's overproduced, almost to the point of being too sterile. There are no rough edges or something like that. But at least, it fits to the genteel vocals. Therefore, it is not surprising that the title track has been played by 50 German radio stations, because this band wants nothing more than commercial success come hell or high water. It is only logical that you have too sound as sterile as a dental office. Well, I hope you recognize my irony....

And then there are the songs. Sometimes the band has incorporated some metal riffs which border on thrash metal regions. Otherwise, there's a lot progressive hard rock and dark metal or whatever you might call it. But I must admit that METRUM control their craft. However, everything else falls by the wayside. At least, for my taste. In conclusion, I would like to say that I have nothing against Austrian bands. This is precisely why I will now listen to Extrem, which were one of my favourite hardcore punk bands in 1983.

(KK)

www.metrum-music.com 

www.silversonicrecords.de