Bolz'nThese manic grinding Germans come from the beautiful city of Berlin and play an experimental grind sound. The four-piece have been playing together since the summer of 2003. Each of the members have taken a bit of an odd trek to get where they are today. The singer, who also happens to be female, fronted an experimental emo-core band called Kimusawea. But don't make any assumptions because the girl can fucking scream her fucking ass off. Whether she's shouting or using a crazy growl or grunt, the vocals are off the fucking wall and killer as shit throughout the affair. Gunnar (guitar) and Basti (bassist) had previously spent time in a post-rock band called Parasol. Peter (drummer) was in a fake-jazz (I had no idea their was such a thing, I got to hear some of this shit) called IIse Lau.
This is the bands initial full length and contains 10 songs which average about 2 minutes a track with some longer compositions here and there which showcases the bands ability to slow the tempo down. Previous to this they have released a self titled 7" which was limited to 555 copies.
This band sure likes to implement some really fucked tempos and time signatures. The riffing is extremely caustic and hard to pick up on at first but after awhile your ears adjust. When I first got this, I put it on in front of some friends who listen to more typical metal and metalcore and they were taken back, so that put a smile on my face. I listened to this a good 7 times and each time picked up on something new each time, which put another smile on my face. The first five songs come and go in a blur, leaving you dizzy and beaten. Most of them were under 2 minutes or a little longer, and one being over 3 minutes. The second half of the album the band starts to expand their sound arsenal a bit, making use of slow heavy breaks and droning electronics. The 9th track "Drunkwelle" is the longest, clocking out at 8:47. The bulk of the song is built around one hell of an off-timed breakdown. I would say this song best exemplifies the band's ability to write a cohesive sound, combining the best of their attributes. As I said in the opening paragraph, the female vocalist is absolutely insane. Without gender even being taken into consideration, she produces some of the most aggressive vocals I have ever heard.
This was self recorded on analog tape decks. The band did a good job handling their own recording duties, and the analog sound gives this an extra push with the fatter sound. The guitar tone is extremely harsh and uses a heavily distorted overdrive. The bass tone has a real rigid tone to it but it works within the contexts of the bands style. The drums sound good, a little cleaner to hold the rest of the instrumentation together. The vocals were right where you'd want them, loud enough without taking away any attention on the instruments. The electronic sampling used in the longer tracks added a real dark atmosphere to the overall feel of the record, usually I can't stand that shit but it worked good with this band.
Extremely random and chaotic sums up this ones layout, giving the listener no clear indication of what to expect. The booklet and tray art are printed on high quality gloss stock paper. The majority of the layout is black with white text. The booklet has all of the lyrics, which are printed in German; thankfully for us musical explorers here in the US, the band was courteous enough to translate them on their website.
Rating: 4/5
Sections Worthy of Replay: 666 Hektopascal and Drunkwelle
Synopsis: I highly recommend this band to anyone who has gotten bored with the traditional grind stuff. It may be a bit difficult to track down if you are from the states, but I would suggest getting in contact with the band at their myspace (http://www.myspace.com/bolznmusic) Or the bands official website: http://www.bolzn.org