APPOLLONIA

French band Appollonia are new to me. I'm fond of the current hardcore scene, and I'm aware of most of the big players, but I'd not heard of these young fellas before. I'm pleased that's changed though, because 'Blank Solstice' is a crushingly good album. But, it's not the crushing that really sells it (although, they do that extremely well), rather the beautiful melodies that sometimes seep, and sometimes burst, unexpectedly from these incredibly crafted songs. The noise these three chaps make is massive. If there is a negative to be made, it is that the vocals of Vincent are, at times, a little one-dimensional and hoarse sounding for my own taste. However, they are not offensively bad; on 'Chalk Outlines' he does flirt with melody, and pulls it off quite well. Other than that, I cannot find fault in this album. Seriously, this is as near to being complete as any band could hope to be. If Vincent could find more of his voice to really make those mellower sections soar, we could be on to a perfect album (whisper it, a ten out of ten). I can't focus heavily on any one song on this album, and I haven't got space to dwell on them all. However, do yourself a huge favour, and buy into this band now. They deserve your respect and your jaw will drop when you hear it. I'm going to listen to this for a long time to come.

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Maximun Douglas Records

Album

BLANK SOLSTICE

Review by Steve Cowan

RUNNING TIME:

42:00

RELEASE DATE:

3rd Nov 2009

TRACK LISTING

1) To Nameless Sons
2) Gospel of the Dead Earth
3) Iota
4) My Closest Foe
5) Acrobat
6) Thirty Cents Judas
7) Chalk Outlines
8) A Landscape of its Own

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

France

"...it's not the crushing that really sells it (although, they do that extremely well), rather the beautiful melodies that sometimes seep, and sometimes burst, unexpectedly from these incredibly crafted songs."