Just over a month ago, Stiff Valentine emerged on the scene with their debut EP Loveless. It's a brutal thing, it is, with the band drawing their inspiration from names like Agnostic Front and KMFDM. Comparisons to Static-X, Limbogott, or Spineshank would be perfectly appropriate, highlighting the slight insanity of their adrenaline-pumped industrial metal style.
The 6-track EP starts out with "The Number 23" where you immediately hear the influence of former Front Line Assembly live keyboardist Craig Huxtable, but it's not long until the heavy but catchy guitar riffs kick into gear. Singer Loud Chris delivers lyrics that are equally as harsh, even bordering on growling at times. It makes the lyrics less comprehensible during these moments, but the music itself mostly makes up for it. In "Absolution" the vocal style and quick, punk-influenced riffs are both reminiscent of Powerman 5000's album Tonight the Stars Revolt, just a few notches heavier. "Prison G" offers a temporary rest from the chaotic headbanging you just experienced during the first two tracks, but don't expect it too last. Stiff Valentine will remind you of their true nature again soon enough.
My favorite song on the EP is "Breaking Point" where the electronics shine a bit brighter and the industrial influence is more apparent. It's almost like some kind of spacy cyber-metal, very much like something you'd expect on Fear Factory's Remanufacture remix album. I love it. The only major disappointment on the EP is the short 2-minute song "SUCK" which acts as the less than desirable ending for an otherwise-great debut. It just seems uninspired and unnecessary. Skip it and you're good to go.
Overall, definitely worth listening to for anyone into the harder end of industrial metal. I give it a 7 out of 10.
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3 comments:
Interesting sounding band Greg, how'd you hear of them?
Thanks, I hope I did alright for my first post here. ;)
I heard about them actually because they sent me an email requesting a review on Germaniac.com. The only problem is they are from Vancouver, Canada and so there's no reason to post it on Germaniac, so I decided to write a review anyway and post it over here instead.
Ah cool, my second home. Did fine man, any style you want to use for reviews is cool, it's totally up to you :)
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