Artiste: Death Valley Athletic Club
Nationality: French
Album: Death Valley Athletic Club
Year: 2015
Label: None; Bandcamp release
Genre: Experimental?
Tracks:
Murti
Cereza
Salamander
Thanatoproxy
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Describe their music as “Surreal rock for the masses”...
Initial impression: Nice acoustic start, can hardly hear the vocal...
Best track(s): Salamander (just)
Worst track(s): Everything else
Comments: This is more an EP, with only four tracks, and yet, like some of the EPs I've reviewed over the last while, there's a lot of running time, as three of the four tracks clock in at well over ten minutes, with one running to sixteen! I have no idea what to expect so here we go. We open with a soft acoustic number with almost inaudible vocals, so low that I can't be sure if they're singing in French or ... oh no, it's English. Ok. Getting a bit more animated now on the guitar with synth coming in and the vocal getting a little more biting. This short track is the opener, a mere three minutes and then a jazzy, bouncy guitar instrumental sees it out and into “Cereza”, which runs for twelve minutes.
This starts slow too and kind of dreamy, then kicks up into another rocky number, with some pretty good flourishes on the keys. Rather oddly, in about the eighth minute it stops and then goes into a kind of experimental/ambient/Frownland thing with feedback, effects, sounds and general weirdness. Now this to me (and I may be wrong) indicates that DVAC are just extending this track for the sake of it. I mean, what's the point here? The song was relatively okay (though nothing special) for eight minutes, now we're getting “let's play with effects!” for another four?? Losing sympathy in my eyes here people!
The third track features a nice smooth little bassline, but I can see a pattern emerging here: start low and muted, kick it up and rock out. It's a little predictable, though there is some nice angry guitar here. This is eleven minutes long and breaks down in the fourth into a nice piano and vocal, slowing everything into a sort of lounge crawl. Good vocal. Some nice relaxed guitar and some slick bass. Favourite track so far, though I have to admit that's not saying much. Now they've ruined it by trying to mix Doom and Death metal, with a staggering degree of ineptitude and therefore total lack of success. Oh dear.
I should also point out that their logo is very confusing and does not look anything at all like DVAC. If anything it looks like XXC. Weird. I also don't see any justification for their description of their music as “surreal”, except in the sense that if they think they're getting anywhere commercially with this, that is indeed surreal. We're now into the final track, and it's the longest, at just over sixteen minutes, but I'm basically expecting more of the same. At least it didn't start low-key but seems to be something of a carryover from the ending of the previous one. Good sharp guitar, decent melody.
So after a pretty decent, it must be said, guitar workout we again stop in minute seven. And I mean STOP. For several seconds. You'd definitely think the song was over if you were just listening without running times. Eventually the guitar comes back with a sort of funky passage, which to be fair, has been worth waiting for, but why the big gap? People are mostly impatient and will be unlikely to wait for this to start up, meaning they may miss half of the track. Smacks a little of arrogance to me. Anyway, on it goes and the drums roll in, but it's really more of a jam than anything else. Not that there's anything wrong with them, but in the middle of a song like this and following such a pause?
Oh dear god! Now we get a death vocal! Why? We're twelve minutes into the sixteen-minute run and DVAC have decided they want to be a death .,.. well, no, the music is not death metal, just the vocal. And now we have another false ending. Three minutes still to go.
Sounds like some more weird effects and feedback on the way. Talk about filling out a song for the sake of it.
Overall impression: Pretty run-of-the-mill. The only thing that makes them stand out, in my opinion, is the way they keep stopping and starting songs, and also how they can't seem to decide what sort of band they want to be.
Hum Factor: 3
Surprise Factor: -7
Intention: Well this is their debut, but I doubt I'll be breathlessly awaiting any more of their material!