VULTURE INDUSTRIES

Wow!!! It’s like having Arcturus back! 'The Dystopia Journals' could be the groovier bastard brother of 'La Masquerade Infernale'! As far as I can see, this is a must buy album - it’s eclectic, inventive and well played by musicians willing to take risks. I’m sure it’s been mentioned before, but Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen’s vocals are a dead ringer for Garm’s back in the Arcturus glory days. In his smart suit he could also stand well with Akercocke’s Jason Mendonca as best dressed frontman! The important thing about Vulture Industries is that they are not just a pale clone; they are a band inspired and taking a sound further. They have a whole sensibility for writing damn good metal songs with progressive flourishes that also have a sense for the bizarre and conjure up myriad soundscapes. Not since the Polish band InDread Cold have I heard such good songwriting mixed with such weirdness. Yeah, sure, I’ve heard a lot of the stranger and more bizarre bands, but writing a great song under these conditions is another matter entirely, and Vulture Industries sure know how to write a good tune. The album as a whole flows along from start to finish and makes you want to listen to it again immediately as it finishes. The piano work, which breaks through occasionally - sounding like it’s played through an old gramophone - adds texture to the already growing strangeness, but it’s the power of the guitar groove and riffs that hold this together with a strong rhythm section presiding over it all. Hailing from Norway, members of Vulture Industries have played in many other bands including session work with Enslaved and Taake so, although young, they have obviously learnt their craft and employ it well in this progressive and experimental field of metal that they really are going to take the crown in. Remember this is the debut album, so it’s just the beginning of what looks like a very exciting band – a very big sound, with a groove and an eye for the obscure. I love it!

LABEL:

FORMAT:

Dark Essence Records

Album

THE DYSTOPIA JOURNALS

Review by Paul Sims

RUNNING TIME:

44:02

RELEASE DATE:

1st Oct 2007

TRACK LISTING

1) Pills of Conformity
2) Blood don't Flow Streamlined
3) A Path of Infamy
4) Soulcage
5) The Benevolent Pawn
6) The Crumbling Realm
7) To Sever the Hand of Corruption
8) Grim Apparitions

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

Norway

"...a very big sound, with a groove and an eye for the obscure."