‘Turn To Six’ starts up like a broken-down machine before an old school Metal riff kicks in before it in turn writhes and twists into a more modern-sounding grind before a layer of wailing vocals is added. It’s a vocal that has all the depth of Cornell and all the spike of Ozzy, though Idlewar of course sound like neither of those bands they just ride the same waves. And his opening wave is ridden almost in slow motion. It’s a provoking opening from Orange County’s finest.
Preceded by a video for one of the standout tracks ‘Escape’ Idlewar’s second full-length gives you more of the same sort of hit that their debut did, wading as it does through the same dark and murky shadows that bands like Soundgarden and QOTSA have explored so proficiently over the years. Indeed ‘Escape’ hits next, all pent-up aggression and latent power that just boils over and explodes out of the speakers.
And then it’s hard to hold back those dark waters as the wonderfully spiky ‘Stab’ crashes through; in truth ‘Drama’ holds back a little, lulling you into a false sense of security before ‘Rage’ vents and unfurls its turmoil on the back of a tsunami of a riff! It’s left to the determined ‘Alone’ to shelter you and give you a breather to survey the wreckage as we’re left high and dry right in the middle of the album.
The second half of ‘Fractured’ is just as powerful though, as the determined creep of ‘Demented’ fires up, before the crash of ‘Enough’; the quirky metallic swing of ‘Perfect Disaster’ (think Van Halen as a Metal band) and the relentless groove of ‘Odd’ give even more texture. We close a triumph of an album with the initial simmer and slide of ‘Hope’ a song which takes on a life of its own and promises so much next time round with its off beat time signature and detuned chaos. It’s a helluva wy to wrap this one up.
Here at The Rockpit we’ve loved these guys since their first EP dropped and they just seem to be getting stronger.
