Butterfly Convict - Eponymous EP

Genre: Alternative / Progressive Rock
Name: Butterfly Convict
Album: Butterfly Convict EP, 2010
I found this EP somewhat... arresting

Well, Coheed & Cambria are currently doing a promotion of various bands made by their fans, and so Butterfly Convict appeared on my radar with this 37-minute exposition, which is not particularly atrocious; They're from Long Island, but other than that they're actually quite good.

Musically, the five piece is interesting, with interesting song structures; for example the opening track, Opus One, has two very different verse riffs, thus bringing into dispute whether it is a verse or not. Vulpic has two seperate choruses. Tension Grid has about 5 different verse styles. There are, in addition, many excellent riffs. The vocalist, while he at first seemed to be a little shipshod, actually grew on me the more I listened, and on the whole is rather good

It is worth noting, however, that the band has recently expanded from a four-piece to a five-piece, with the drummer taking up the duties of second guitarist, with the intention, according to Ross, the drummer-cum-guitarist, to "fill out our sound more and create complimenting guitar parts", which will certainly enhance the music, I feel. This should give their next release a more interesting flavour, which I am certainly looking forward to.

Lyrically, it is somewhat of a mixed bag - there are several moments of poetic excellence: "This spark of different colours; / A vulpic flare." (Vulpic) and "Sleep, baby, sleep. / Til the demons have gone away. / They prowl the night in search of loving homes." and the iambic "It's time to tame the Tension Grid" (both from Tension Grid) strike me as brilliant. However, there is the somewhat clichéd political song, with the immortal (in as much as that they just won't die) lines "While the rich stay rich & the poor get poorer." (Break My Faith). However, this is their first release; you must give them time to find their feet.

However, as you reach the end of the up-til-then mediocre EP, you find Tension Grid, which is much more of a magnum opus than Opus One was. At 12 minutes, it makes up about a third of the time, but is by far the best song: lyrically excellent, musically more diverse and interesting and in general just rather good. Here, everything fits together a lot better, nothing seems contrived (although there are a couple of moments of atrocious cheesiness) and you can see why Coheed & Cambria felt that they could promote them - indeed, this song sounds very much like the aforementioned band both melodically (to a certain extent) and structurally, and the lyrics, whilst on a completely different subject, hold an air that is not too dissimilar from Sanchez's works. It is for this reason that I felt this EP worth a few moments of your time.

Summary: An interesting final song, making an otherwise common-or-garden EP much more worthwhile.
Lyrical Themes: Love, politics and Tension Grids
Rating: 7/10

Track listing:
1. Opus One
2. Vulpic
3. Break My Faith
4. Catharsis
5. Tension Grid

Bandcamp
Download

Gravity

Genre: Alternative Rock
Name: Gravity
Album: Demos, 2011

Plugs are shocking...

Greetings,

I haven't posted in a while because I've been on an "in-tents" military overnight for a while, and have a lot of work at the moment. However, I now am at liberty to give you a variety of musical treats, starting with this one.

Now, I'll come clean - this is somewhat of a plug. Gravity are not my band, but they are the band of a friend of mine, who has rather exceptional musical taste; we're currently planning to go to see Dream Theater in the summer. As a result, now that they have some recorded material, I felt obliged to put up their demos as somewhat of an advertisement for them. Note, however, that I am doing this of my own accord, and have not been put up to it by anyone, and nor would I give you anything that I didn't think was worth a listen myself.

However, rest assured that this is not just your run-of-the-mill teenage band who will soon fizzle into nothing; quite the contrary, I believe. They have, despite being in their infant stages, already performed with one Reginald D. Hunter, an exceptional comedian who has appeared on Have I Got News For You several times, amongst other things. They are, I believe, On The Way.

They have an interesting musical background - the primary songwriter cannot read music, but plays the piano by ear, and can "sweep-pick" its entire 8 octaves blindfolded, but has never had formal teaching. The drummer is also an excellent guitarist, and has somewhat detailed knowledge of the technical side of musical equipment, having made amplifiers in the shape of a deathbat before. In addition, he is an exceptional guitarist. Musically, they are somewhere in the orbit of Muse - not quite progressive, and not quite avant garde, but tending towards both of those areas. There are hints of jazz, metal and various other genres. In short, they are certainly worthy of a quarter of one of your earth hours to listen to these four tracks.

Track listing:
Starfire
City Of Angels
Aerodynamic
Into Blue

They can be heard and downloaded for free here.

Demenzia - Faces (single)

Genre: Death Metal
Name: Demenzia
Two-faced bands...


Greetings.

Not much for you this time, I'm afraid; I have but a single to offer you. However, the astute amongst you will have noted the unusual choice of genre, for me at least, so clearly all is not lost.

Demenzia originally were a doom metal band, which is how they appeared on my radar. However, when I listened to their single on youtube, I found death metal - but good death metal. As a result, I shall share it with you. Enjoy the keyboards!

Rating: 8/10

Track listing:
1. Faces

Download