Review: Kill the Ideal – Kill the Ideal

Having recently featured on one of our video roundups, Kill the Ideal caught my eye (or ear, rather) with their aggressive alternative hard rock in the form of “Dangerous!” Clicking the next video on YouTube with their name attached to it proved the single wasn’t a fluke. Six songs spread over 20 minutes show this isn’t a band to provide you with self-indulgent “Let’s see how long we can make this” exercises.

Instead, you get six robust songs on their self-titled EP all of which pack their own punch. Notably, “Dangerous!” is an excellent introduction to their high quality music. Pristine vocals from Ash Wilson hide the smouldering and jagged edge they take at moments, with his guitar work matching it perfectly. Meanwhile Luke Farmer delivers a massive bass line which he follows up with another one in “Crazy”.

Meanwhile “Indecisive” feels aptly named, trying to go in various directions and at first, throws you off-kilter with a weird time signature but the vacillation only builds another layer into the two and a half minute song. Closing track “Know Your Name” feels like an excellent song for radio airplay with its singalong chorus but its abrupt end leads you to think there’s another song to follow.

For the most part the EP is an upbeat affair for you to jump about to, “Spotlight” takes a darker tone with echoes of Frank Carter & the Rattlesnakes’ “Beautiful Death”. Equally grim and morose, Kill the Ideal make their tamest moment on the EP into something more polished than Carter’s brooding hurt. Whilst not a full-on “get your lighters/mobile phones out” moment, it serves as a great respite in the EP with its powerful lyrics.

You really have to be a quality act to justify being a three-piece band and at no point does the music beg for an extra layer of guitars. Kill the Ideal make the most of an EP, delivering quality and quantity but most of all, leave you wanting more which is what an EP should do.

Kill the Ideal is out now

Kill the Ideal: facebook | twitter | bigcartel | bandcamp | youtube

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments