Liste des groupes Metal Progressif Back To R'lyeh Horrible Warning

Back To R'lyeh is a band from Spain bringing spreading their fresh brand of progressive metal with the release of their debut demo Horrible Warning. To be honest, I rarely do reviews or my opinions with the progressive genres (unless –core related), so I apologize in advance if any of my outlooks, genre specific, are incorrect and factually inaccurate (ie. I will know nothing about what I’m about to talk about). Either way, I’ll have a crack at this. I came across this band when one of it’s members messaged me on facebook inquiring about a review of this demo, naturally, I started doing my research and I couldn’t find any reviews on Horrible Warning, which made me kind of sad. I read some comments made by others calling Horrible Warning stuff like “lame”. After reading those comments I thought “oh boy here we go, another generic band”. When I first hit play on the demo, I honestly thought my worst fears were realised, this was going to be boring. However, an effect that listening to Back To R'lyeh and Horrible Warning constantly has, is that the music began to grow on me and I started enjoying this demo more than when I first heard the music. It just goes to show, the superficial approach is exactly what it says, superficial…

I’m sorry I digressed a little in the opening, but I just wanted to stress the point of giving Horrible Warning a chance, because it’s nowhere near as bad as what it first seems. The opening to Horrible Warning is rather, average at best. I mean, I appreciated the jazzy atmosphere and smooth complexity of the music in the intro, but I don’t think it fulfilled it’s true purpose which I think is still a little unclear (I know that there must have been a purpose there, but it just didn’t quite cut the mustard). Although I cannot say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did, it gave the demo an easy listening feel. However, it’s the proggy melodic parts which really make this demo shine. Although the mixing, mastering and recording of Horrible Warning may not be the best (the guitars and drums in particular), the simplicity and elegance of these melodic parts and improved upon. They just give off a warm and euphoric feeling, not something that I’ve felt before. I can imagine these guys playing a pub or something, it just suits their music.

However, there are bits and pieces to Horrible Warning which I think are a little off. Although the band excels in writing melodic passages which are warm and mellow, it’s when they try to write more complex and metal sections is where they tend to fall. There are some parts where rather than sounding technical, the music just sounds really, really corny. It almost sounds like they’re making a parody of line dance music or something along those… lines (I’m sorry, I just had to). Yeah, I know what the band is trying to do experimentally, but quite frankly, I just don’t think it fits in with their music. However, the faster (but simple) and heavier stuff throughout the demo is much more pleasing to the ear than the attempt-at-technicality. In fact, it’s actually very heavy. I found myself head banging quite a bit along the way, I could definitely hear the strong thrash influence in many of the passages.

Sure, Back To R'lyeh may not be the most technically sound band the world has ever seen, but I must give praise some of the band’s musicianship, because some parts are put together really well. I’d like to revisit the melodic jazzy parts to Back To R'lyeh, because I feel it’s where Horrible Warning possess its strongest attributes. I feel, that these passages are almost perfect, everything is in time, the tone of the instruments and tempo is just right for the mood and atmosphere of the music. I struggle to find a way to describe this because it’s just so good. I mean, it has literally taken this demo from being overly generic and boring, to something on a different level, a level which is only reserved for the beauty and spectacles of music. Unfortunately, these melodies aren’t as abundant as what I wish they’d be on Horrible Warning, but they still had a profound (positive) affect on the demo overall.

Overall, Horrible Warning is a pretty good demo. It does show that Back To R'lyeh is not just going to be one of those recycled bands who just play a single genre and take influence from a single band, and that alone should be appreciated. Horrible Warning consists of three tracks; two originals and one cover so we pretty much on have two tracks we can try and work out what Back To R'lyeh is all about. However, I just don’t think there is enough there to solidify a definite opinion of whether or not I like what I’m hearing from Back To R'lyeh. The music is all over the shop, so many genres, so many atmospheres and so many identities… two six minute tracks are just not long enough. I’m going to go ahead and recommend the track Basil Abscond if you are looking for the more jazzy and euphoric side of the band, but if you would like something heavier and thrashier try out Massacre and Escape. However, like I mentioned earlier, to get the full effects of each track and ultimately Back To R'lyeh you may need a little patience. I give Back To R'lyeh’s Horrible Warning a 14/20.