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Adequacy.net review of Canadian metal band Inner Surge
Holy shit! Now, I know that many bands have friends in unlikely places: Dire Straits had Tony Blair (PM of the UK, for the politically challenged); Bob Marley had Teddy Taylor (ok, another Brit politician); Radiohead have Vladimir Putin (note to self: check that last reference
).
And now, to this list of immortals, we can add Inner Surge and
Steven Hawking? Well, it certainly sounds like you're listening to the dulcet tones of ol' mister Dark Matter when you first enter Inner Surge's website.
And who could blame him? The band, for the most part a one-man project from Steve Moore, is a curious mix of metal and ProTools, a kind of make-your-own-Metallica that sounds a lot better than that encapsulated description. Steve has a firm grasp of songwriting and recording that gives his band's output a professional, measured sheen that shows off progressive metal chops perfectly. It's often hard to make me listen to anything that deviates from the righteous path of indie-rock; Inner Surge succeed by targeting the lyrics to appeal to the sad leftist in me, yet also by giving the basic sound an intriguing top-coat of electronic flourishes that seems to be frequently struggling to throw off the rock-based template that the songs begin with. Recommended for those who mourn late period Rage Against the Machine, or anyone who likes their metal with a dash of innovation
Canadanoise.com Inner Surge "Signals Screaming" Review
By now this CD has been out for weeks, so if you haven’t listened to it already then shame on you. Signals Screaming is a battering-ram of an album that is impressive and powerful, both in sound and in message.
Delivered through a screaming fury along with sung words that are weighted with disdain, the force of its lyrics is impossible to shut out.
INNER SURGE practice a kind of intelligent metal that inspires a sense of bitter unrest towards the state of humanity, their consistently angry vocals speaking of political issues and worldwide concerns.
Such militant words are fueled by pummelling bass, deep guitars, and energetic drumming with tons of double-kick action. This is a mostly heavy album, being focused as a whole towards a harder, faster metal sound than the band’s previous release.
The opening track, “Azura,” makes a quiet entrance but is only misleading of the aggression to come. Any notion of this being a timid record is dispelled when the album launches into the loud and distorted fierceness of “The Outcome,” followed by a barrage of other songs of a similar power.
At their most aggressive they contain thundering bass drum, finger-tapping guitar riffs and soul-crushing screams that are all made clear and intense by the album’s production. There are many softer moments within these songs as well, but things don’t truly ease up again after the first track until “Wolves.” This song fits in as a quiet change from the distortion-driven tracks preceeding it, lacking screams and consisting of some excellent clean guitar picking.
However, this is only a slight break between the pounding force that INNER SURGE have to offer in large servings. Things pick up heavier than ever with the next track, “Where The Door Locks,” and remain so with occasional melodious interruptions until the climactic ending of the nearly colossal “No Profit In The Cure.”
This album expresses INNER SURGE’s talent for creating music that hits hard like a brick in the gut. While the structures of the songs vary and the tone and pace change rapidly, their music maintains an excellent flow that can easily capture a person’s attention throughout the course of the album by way of its vicious force and melodic intervals. The vocal and musical harmonies are well executed, as are the contrasting ambush of screams and discordant instrumentals, making for a collection of songs that does not become dull at any instant.
Signals Screaming promises to be an essential contribution to Canadian metal this year, the impact of its message and aggressive style being sure to turn heads. INNER SURGE’s music is a voice that screams out to be heard, and a voice I would recommend listening to.
- Cory
Funender Review by Phrygia
Punk, eh? Hmm. That sounds like such an open-ended word it begs definition, which is so prone to objective scrutiny that we could hardly touch the surface. But, here's a small excerpt in the origins of punk and what it means to us, at least here in America (Britain not-withstanding, because the evolution and roots of punk extend all the way back into the generation of The Beatles' era, a la The Fugs) - Much of the punk and skinhead influence on America developed into hardcore, growing from both the West and East coasts. In California, there were bands like The Dils, Black Flag, The Weirdos, The Avengers, The Germs, The Descendents, Adolescents, X, Minutemen, Dead Kennedys, The Circle Jerks, Bad Religion, Social Distortion, T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty), The Vandals, Fear and others; in Washington D.C. there was Minor Threat, Bad Brains and other bands on the Dischord label. Black Flag has often been considered America's first hardcore band, beginning in 1978. By creating the still-surviving SST label (although it had recently declared bankruptcy), Black Flag single-handedly gave the West Coast hardcore scene international prominence. By the time their first EP "Jealous Again" came out in 1980, Black Flag had begun touring enough to become a major attraction in nearly every city and inspire others to get into the scene. While Black Flag and their peers wrote cutting songs like "T.V. Party", about commercial culture and middle class suburban life, the sound they made was predominantly a joyful noise, and they rarely preached to their fans. The Dead Kennedys became an exception to the West Coast scene when they honed a self-righteously moral attack upon middle and upper-class values. "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", their 1980 debut on I.R.S., contained "Holiday In Cambodia," their crowning achievement. The Dead Kennedy's sarcastic diatribes bordered on the overbearing on "In God We Trust, Inc." until they redeemed themselves with an improved sense of humor on "Plastic Surgery Disasters" in 1982. By 1981, they had formed the Alternative Tentacles label which became a grassroots force as productive as SST. The East Coast had much more in common with the Dead Kennedys than the more hedonistic California bands. While SST was just starting, Minor Threat helped establish the Dischord label. They issued the "Bottled Violence EP" in 1981, which revealed strong influence from the ideology of Crass and the music of The Ruts. The power of their own influence became apparent when, with one impassioned hardcore tune called "Straight Edge" they called for abstinence from drugs and booze. From that song, Minor Threat unwittingly would create a whole new American subculture which would adopt the same song title. A song that acknowledged both the aspirations and realties of political punk rock inspired a whole generation of skinheads and people without any label to denounce the self-destructive, nihilistic lifestyle that cultural icons like Sid Vicious romanticized. Ian MacKaye, lead singer for Minor Threat, would later emphasize that he was not telling people that they should restrict their own lifestyles. He was merely describing the choices he had made for himself at the time. Meanwhile, Bad Brains carried on the tradition of the 2-Tone movement to the states, pushing the hybrids even further. The black jazz-rock fusionists from Washington D.C. proved their mastery of hardcore early in their career with the 1980 single, "Pay to Cum!". On the 1982 ROIR cassette album, Bad Brains featured radically contrasting excursions into dub and rasta reggae amongst the hardcore fury. As the band progressed, they shed some of the hardcore sound to create even more exciting blends of funk, reggae and metal while continuing to espouse rastafarian principles. Just for brevity's sake, we'll jump across the thousands of deformations and manifestations of punk, from The Pixies to The White Stripes, even so far as including Sevendust and the horribly passe Blink 182 and their rubbish-filled stolen dreams of yesteryear. So, when the word "Punk" is alluded to, we here in the Land of Phrygia Musical Chronology and Geneological Metering Archives take it quite seriously. As opposed to allowing the teeming listener to simply accept this genre as a catch-all, we must attest to its original intention - that of deconstructing music as you thought it should be, cause for thought, political disobedience and outright civil unrest. Does Inner Surge fall within this category? After carfeul consideration of the facts, and a couple of glasses of wine to boot, the general consensus here is YES! More likely, HELL YES!!! Now granted, Inner Surge makes music that is more geared toward Alternative Metal and copper coil inductive Industrial Rock, but their stab at Punk is outright mayhem, heralding a new stage of the transformative effects of punk music and its apparent path of transmogrification. "Our Rights" takes on a more English appeal, and stalwarts should agree that it is more prone to Crass and Rudimentary Peni's poetic criticisms of the future and societal defects that abound within our cultures, yet reminds us of classic punk tribute bands such as Gang Green, Death Takes a Holiday and Crucifix. The lyrics smash the lead-in-brain typicality of post-modern punk, with great passages such as: "After a thousand generations of pain We're learning not to play the tempter's game Innocence and pure support have been handed to the oppressors But why? Their controlled media has purposely fed us nothing but lies Their secret de-evolution keeps us in the dark Why do we lift them up so high They call for war and send our sons to die" That's right - we choose to be chosen; we wish to retain our rights as humans to decide our own destiny, not to be the pawns of political puppeteering and cash rich folly. As anti-social as that may seem to the seasoned Republican, it's actually a cry to the sensibility of man to somehow see beyond our ignorance and become one group of vertebrates that actually strive for a better world. We'd have to join that club, regardless of the repercussions. It makes sense in a world gone mad. Music. Music is what these ideas travel on the back of, and this camel is not an ordinary dromedary, it is a violently retching technicolor beast of burden with acid spit and a forked tongue. Get to near and it will indeed kick your whining ass back to Constantinople. Meaning, Inner Surge's music is intense, fiercely aggravated, yet so cool to "look" at, you must get closer to get a better view. Carefully, you might inch toward the hunching beast, and learn that it also has a coat of armor that causes spellbound appreciation. Opening "Our Rights", Inner Surge chooses to delay the attack by sending a tightly picked bass line that reminds us of Phantom Tollbooth, which instantly galvanizes us to the track. Guitar pounces in, insidious, yet precise. The backbeat is simple, deliberate, and of no consequence, which seems to be the perfect mix for this track. The vocals are so close to the manic mixture of The Buzzcocks and The Seminoles that it simply staggers. It also runs very close in the vein of the Subhumans, Conflict UK and Rage Against The Machine, which decidedly earns even more points here in the Land of Phrygia. The vocals throughout the track intertwine with backing members of Inner Surge with such a cool bravado that we shake our heads in shame - we only wish we could think up those kinds of acrobatics. This track is a story, a manifesto of deeply discouraged individuals, and it follows as such, with deafening crescendos, stuttered breaks and build-ups and bass and drums follow suit in a grand marching order and cadence. Simply listen to this track, and get the feeling deep within, because we are starting to believe that words don't quite do this music justice - it must be heard. Personally, we adore music that isn't afraid to kick you squarely in the teeth and not apologize. A toothless smile is still a smile, no?
Space Junkies Magazine review
INNER SURGE "Matrika" I love the sound of this album "Matrika" because it reminds me of TOOL. I've been listening to TOOL a lot lately especially the albums "Anima" and "Undertow." TOOL is one of those bands that you listen to for long streaks at a time then you don't listen to them for awhile, but when you return to listening to their music it sounds so good and becomes so addictive! INNER SURGE, has that same sort of addiction, it makes you want to listen to their music for long periods of time; day after day. INNER SURGE produces the same deep thumping head bobbing sounds as TOOL with layers of glamorous guitars overtop. The guitars are what makes these songs on "Matrika" stick in your head. The vocals are the separating factor from TOOL they're more angst and harsh with periods of softness but not that soothing kinda of softness like Maynard James Keenan voice. I know some bands and artists hate being compared to other bands or artists, but I love the fact that INNER SURGE sounds so much like TOOL because it makes the music "familiar" sounding; therefore it makes it more enjoyable to listen to. Its an album that you already feel like you're connected to without knowing who the artist is. A very enjoyable album indeed! Rating: 10+/10 [Wednesday Elektra]
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