With the recent meteorite crash in the Urals of Russia, as well as the passing of Asteroid 2012 DA14 between the Moon's orbit of Earth just a few days ago, I thought that the title of this album made it fitting for review. If you don't know who Recs Of The Flesh are by now, you should check out my review of their last album, “The Threat Remains And Is Very Real”, as well as my interview with frontman Massimo Usai. But if you're low on time and can't be bothered with extra reading, let me just say that they're a rock group based out of the Italian island of Sardinia and they create some extremely trippy music. I've been excited for this album ever since Max first told me about his main influences when writing it. With a list including Megadeth, Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age and Michael Jackson, I knew that it would be quite a ride. From the high paced opening track, “Obsessive Compulsive Dispersive”, I could already hear his heroes echoing through the music. Scattered throughout the record, Max takes on a Dave Mustaine inspired vocal style, snarling through the lyrics. Meanwhile, the up front bass guitar mix is reminiscent of QOTSA, and RECS choice of using a distorted keyboard (which has been a longstanding instrument of choice for them) may remind some of the warbling guitar effect in “Go With The Flow”. Foo Fighters shows through more in attitude than in musical influence, and while Max may have enjoyed Jackson's songs while writing, I don't feel his style really makes an appearance on this release. However, I get a distinct Prong influence from tracks like “It's All Gone” and a personal favorite, “Of Fears & Liars”, which may be one of RECS catchiest songs to date. “Fear, Lies and Collapsing Comets” is the first RECS release since their second EP to feature an entirely Italian line-up. As a result, they sound more unified than on either of their previous LPs. Max doesn't hesitate to put bassist Federico Loche front and center, showcasing his talents at the front of the mix. Initially I was worried that this made the bass too overpowering, but quickly realized how wonderful it was for the listener, who is often robbed of distinguishable low end melodies. This band has had a series of great drummers command the kit, but it has been a revolving door of musicians thus far, mainly due distance between band members making touring impossible. Luckily, Edoardo Musiu has joined the fold, and he doesn't disappoint! I'm listening to “One More Wish” as I type, and his sense of groove is impressive! As always, the core of the RECS sound has been and remains the combination of Max's distorted guitar and Sara Melis' distorted keyboards, which complement each other to create a sonic atmosphere that is both addictively catchy and psychedelically trippy. With a title such as this, I can't help but delve into the lyrical subject matter a bit. While the name would suggest governmental conspiracies, cover ups, and end of the world hysteria – and it isthere – much of it is about personal turmoil and people who cause it in us. As Max told me in our interview, “there is one person, particularly, that this album is aimed at...” While I connect with a lot of the lyrics to these tracks, I find myself most interested in those that do deal with paranoia of governmental conspiracies and all the aforementioned subjects. Tracks like the closing trio “Of Fears & Liars”, “Reckless Ways” and “In This Darkness” just hit a nerve with me. I suppose it could be my love of The X-Files, or it could simply be due to the fact that all of those songs totally ROCK! “but in this darkness here I've started seeing things again |
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