Drowning Amidst The Nebulae

Bloodlash

One thing that's clear about Mexico's BLOODLASH, is that they have a lot of ideas. […]
By Jacob Dawson
December 31, 2014
Bloodlash - Drowning Amidst The Nebulae album cover

One thing that's clear about Mexico's BLOODLASH, is that they have a lot of ideas. They're a mash-up of Progressive, Doom, and Death Metal and change tempo and tone so many times throughout their tracks that at times each song feels like about 4 smaller ones thrown together. This works to the band's advantage sometimes, as it brings a huge amount of variety to the album, however the awfully named final track "In Gold And Blood Pt 1: Masks Of Red Dawn And Lead", ultimately falls victim to this trait, as it becomes very uncontrolled and almost follows a stream-of-consciousness format, unable to settle on a rhythm or structure.

However, there are times when the band's penchant for variation works rather well, in particular with the vocals. Paul Alanís does an admirable job of implementing clean vocals along with both screaming and growling. This is apparent in "Scythian Aurora", but works especially well in "Broken Teeth", which incidentally is easily the best song of the four featured on the EP. During the chorus the vocals are mixed and layered so that it sounds as if two or three different vocalists are all singing at once, in very different styles. During the rest of the song the guitars are pretty impressive, with the slower tempo of the track allowing for a much heavier sound that's partially achieved by the two guitarists playing up and down the fretboard maniacally. Other gimmicks are also present, with more wah-wah-ing than BON JOVI can shake a stick at.

Back to the opener of the EP, though, as "Scythian Aurora" is the track that introduces the technicality of the guitars in full force. The ending is oddly the most interesting part of the song however; as the tempo dramatically shifts to a much slower beat that makes it sound as if a giant machine is winding down to rust.These shifts in tempo are another example of the band's restlessness within their songs, as "Ocean Bed" does the same thing just over a minute into the track so that it immediately sounds totally different, heavier. The production is not exempt from this either, as a fairly good chunk of the song has a layer of tinny-ness thrown over it which, while interesting at first, also makes it more difficult to appreciate the musicianship.

BLOODLASH definitely have potential and skill; this is evident in their technicality and clear enthusiasm for creativeness. What they lack is the ability to restrict that energy, so that it doesn't create a mess. If Picasso simply splodged paint all over a canvas it wouldn't be great, just because we know it's by Picasso. It takes control and vision, and that is what this band needs to engage for their next release. I wish them all the luck in doing so.

6 / 10

Had Potential

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"Drowning Amidst The Nebulae" Track-listing:

1. Scythian Aurora
2. Broken Teeth
3. Ocean Bed
4. In Gold And Blood Pt 1: Masks Of Red Dawn And Lead

Bloodlash Lineup:

Paul Alanís - Vocals
Aleph - Guitars
Eerne Valkw - Guitars
Jaymz Parker - Bass
Nino - Drums

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