Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Review: A Volatile Mixture



Review:

Artist: A Volatile Mixture

Release: “Eat of The Apple/Cinnamon Girl”   7”

Hey kids, do you remember when rock music was made by actual musicians. Remember when rock records were people + instruments = music? Remember when a record was bass, drums, guitar and vocals? If you answered yes to all of the above and you approve of the proper form of musical composition, then keep reading, because this musical recording is for you. If not, may I suggest something from the “auto-tune-cookie cutter” section?

The first track from this 7” release is “Eat of The Apple”. This song is straight up “no bullshit” rock from the Alice In Chains school of darkness.  The track opens with a crunching riff that also lends itself to the verses with a steady punch and rhythm that keeps your attention. We cruise next into a pre-chorus and chorus Layne Staley would be proud of. Some of the lyrics seem a little busy in some parts from a linguistically point of view, but aren’t out of place. The bridge section and guitar solo take us through the next phase of this musical endeavor. Well composed solo, fits the song like a glove although this reviewer would have liked to have it go on a little bit longer, but again it’s not out of place or “off”. The coda to this piece for me is the highlight, very cool dynamics, sounds and feel.

Nothing is being reinvented here, it’s a rock song - however the changing dynamics in the three parts keeps the track fresh and interesting.

The second track is “Cinnamon Girl” which of course is a cover of the Neil Young song of the same nomenclature. This cover stays pretty true to the original with a slightly higher tempo and fresher sound due to modern recording techniques. It’s nice to hear a band do a cover and put their flare on it, but stick to the original. Far too many bands today do covers and have to the “look at me, look we did something “artsy” to a classic tune” – which in most cases fall flat on their faces and is nor artsy or clever it’s just noise and nonsense. Kudo’s to AVM for being a proper band. It is a nice compliment to the previous track and plays nicely as a pair for this proper 7” release. 

So with that said, overall this is a nice teaser release prior to AVM's EP that will drop February 19th, 2013. Having had a chance to be around this project off and on from it's infancy and having heard an advance screening, I promise you the best of A Volitile Mixture is still to come.

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