Post by thesoundmonitor on Jul 5, 2004 4:45:42 GMT -5
TIME IN MALTA
Alone with the Alone
(Equal Vision)
On the surface San Francisco’s Time In Malta are just another generic hardcore band. Y’know… heavily tattooed, piercings, black shirts, creative facial hair, etc… Even the opening blasts of ‘Bare Witness’ from the band’s latest and second long-player, Alone with the Alone suggests a band competently walking the typical hardcore route. Dig a little deeper, however, and the discerning listener will discover a band a band who, though with roots firmly planted in hardcore territory, aspire to much more and thus are likely to appeal to many more.
Formed in the mid-late nineties, Time In Malta have released a number of different formats on both their current home Equal Vision, and the equally impressive Escape Artist, and criss-crossed the US alongside such luminaries as Isis, Cave In, Training for Utopia, Will Haven, Piebald and Thrice to name a few.
But it is in the delivery of their hard-hitting melodicore as opposed to the company they keep that has engaged audiences worldwide, recently pulverising Australian punkers on the Action Against Cruelty compilation, with their track ‘Tightrope’.
But it’s on tracks such as ‘Ghosts’, ‘Event Horizon’ and ‘Fused As One’ where the quartet shines brightest. Crushing rhythms are blended with beefy melodies and sonic approaches not usually experimented with in the oft times narrow world of metalcore.
Political lyricism permeates the album on the aforementioned ‘Bare Witness’ and ‘Louder Than Bombs’, but again it is within the introspective moments that vocalist Todd Gullion reached his poetic peak, as genuine pain is heard within his throaty rasps. Guitarist Chris Lyon also gets the thumbs up for his sonic explorations – perhaps the combined result of choosing a non-hardcore producer (Jeff Saltzman, Black Cat Music) and copious hours of listening to Cave In’s structures and approaches.
In taking an alternate route to ultimate hardcore intensity, Time In Malta have created a genre-bending album that begs the attention of anyone remotely interested in heavy music.
Warren Wheeler
www.timeinmalta.com
www.equalvision.com
Alone with the Alone
(Equal Vision)
On the surface San Francisco’s Time In Malta are just another generic hardcore band. Y’know… heavily tattooed, piercings, black shirts, creative facial hair, etc… Even the opening blasts of ‘Bare Witness’ from the band’s latest and second long-player, Alone with the Alone suggests a band competently walking the typical hardcore route. Dig a little deeper, however, and the discerning listener will discover a band a band who, though with roots firmly planted in hardcore territory, aspire to much more and thus are likely to appeal to many more.
Formed in the mid-late nineties, Time In Malta have released a number of different formats on both their current home Equal Vision, and the equally impressive Escape Artist, and criss-crossed the US alongside such luminaries as Isis, Cave In, Training for Utopia, Will Haven, Piebald and Thrice to name a few.
But it is in the delivery of their hard-hitting melodicore as opposed to the company they keep that has engaged audiences worldwide, recently pulverising Australian punkers on the Action Against Cruelty compilation, with their track ‘Tightrope’.
But it’s on tracks such as ‘Ghosts’, ‘Event Horizon’ and ‘Fused As One’ where the quartet shines brightest. Crushing rhythms are blended with beefy melodies and sonic approaches not usually experimented with in the oft times narrow world of metalcore.
Political lyricism permeates the album on the aforementioned ‘Bare Witness’ and ‘Louder Than Bombs’, but again it is within the introspective moments that vocalist Todd Gullion reached his poetic peak, as genuine pain is heard within his throaty rasps. Guitarist Chris Lyon also gets the thumbs up for his sonic explorations – perhaps the combined result of choosing a non-hardcore producer (Jeff Saltzman, Black Cat Music) and copious hours of listening to Cave In’s structures and approaches.
In taking an alternate route to ultimate hardcore intensity, Time In Malta have created a genre-bending album that begs the attention of anyone remotely interested in heavy music.
Warren Wheeler
www.timeinmalta.com
www.equalvision.com