This is a genuinely interesting and original album… and it’s not often I get to say that. Billing themselves as alt-rock, I thought I knew what I was in for from Chlorine and the initial sounds match this. A couple of guitars, bit of bass and drums and a person singing. All pretty melodic with some widdly bits thrown in.
But then they go and chuck in some really heavy bits. Growled vocals, crunching guitars and screaming. Really not what I’d expect from a genre that’s usually pretty much 100% mainstream radio friendly. As with many musical experiments, once your brain gets used to it it works pretty well. Certainly it doesn’t jar as much as you might expect, partly due to the decent songwriting and partly down to the rhythm section just not letting it. The move from light to heavy is managed with ease and you continue to feel within a single song at a time, not thrown around.
Of course, not every song needs a kick in the arse so we have “Kinda Romantic” which is… well. Yeah. It’s counterpointed by the likes of “Daisy Chain” which has a middle section you can really bang your head to. This is closer to post-rock than alt-rock, and I’m starting to see why we have and need so many sub-genres to categorise all these sounds.
Path of Destruction is an odd little package, throwing more than a few surprises at the listener. The big question is if it’s trying to appeal to too many people. Those who prefer the heavier stuff might not want to wade through the lighter, and vice versa. If your tastes are pretty eclectic, though, the I’d certainly recommend giving it a listen.
Path of Destruction is out now
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[…] reviewed Chlorine’s album Path of Destruction last year and it came as a pleasant surprise, a breath of fresh air through my aged cobwebbed head. The band […]