October File – “Our Souls to You”

I have to admit, I chose this album because I liked the artwork. It reminded me of something either Cathedral or their ilk may have chosen to use. I hurriedly placed this in my ITunes to have a listen, and without sounding either too underwhelmed or over-enthused (I appreciate the bi-polar nature of that statement), I was at times quite in awe whilst at the same time wondering if there was more to come in some, as yet, inaudible layer, magically laid over the top.

From the pummelling opening of “Crawl”, where your ear drums are assaulted by Fear Factory-esq beats and almost Kirk Windstein Crowbar vocals, through “Falter” with its extensive use of double kick bass drums, to “A Public Display of Anger[s]” fury and on to the end, I felt this album growing on me. Some catchy, screamingly assailing riffs and larynx grating verses later, I sat at my desk chair thinking, I could really see these, or rather imagine, these guys playing at Donington (Download) or a festival in the same veins as Bloodstock or Hell Fest, and really sounding like they belong.

The thickness of the sound on the album is intense in places, absorbing you into its dirt encrusted brutal assault, and, although this album does not break any boundaries, nor does it push the limits of ‘metal’, it is a very good listen, with a definite sense that after a few more listens, it will more than grow on you.  [ END ]

Track Listing:

01. Crawl
02. Corporate Evasion
03. Falter Download
04. Dredge
05. Eau du War
06. Our Souls to You (Pt 1)
07. A Public Display of Anger
08. Isolation
09. September (Just Another Surrender)
10. Love Is (A Warm AK47)
11. Our Souls to You (Pt 2)

Run Time: 61:00
Release Date: 05.04.2010