It hasn’t been the easiest of rides for Aliases. In the five years since their last full length release ‘Safer Than Reality’, guitarist Pin has reformed his “old” band SiKth and done plenty of work with them, and the band have gone through a slew of line-up changes. Finally their camp has quieted enough for them to find the time to record ‘Derangeable’.
For the most part, the album is the standard affair that you would expect from a lot of the ever-growing tech-metal scene. Batshit mental riffs the mania of which would make most guitarist start crying, mixed with slower, cleaner sections that are an obvious nod to Tool, but not done quite as well. That isn’t meant as an insult – about 95% of all music isn’t as good as Tool, but when a trope is repeated as obviously as it is in the middle sections of ‘Seen It All’ and ‘Untangled Mind’ or pretty much all of ‘Back To The Start’ and isn’t enacted as brilliantly as it has been heard before, it can make even the better parts of it sound less good.
Aliases are truly at their best when they are just going nuts. Pin and fellow guitarist Leah Winwood are indisputable masters of the fretboard, and when complemented by the rhythm section of Jof Walsh (drums) and Joe Heaton (bass) there are few bands who could match their technical ability and nous for writing angular-yet-groovy riffs and intricate clean sections. Even current singer Joe Rosser is able to keep up, performing every different kind of vocal under the sun. Screaming, clean singing, that weird thing that Sam Carter does that’s kind of in-between, shouting and spoken word are all done to a high standard.
The one thing ‘Derangeable’ seems to lack is proper songs. It’s all very well having some of the best riffs around, but the album feels a lot like it flits from one to the other and then puts a slower section in between. Having just said that Aliases are at their finest when they’re going for it, for those who prefer their songs with a clearly defined structure, this album can tend to lose them with its sheer insanity.
This kind of tech-metal can, by its very nature, be obtuse, and ‘Derangeable’ is as obtuse as you are likely to find. If you are able to look past this and get to grips with Aliases’ raw talent then there will be so much here for you; if you can’t then you’ll be as confused as Alice being forced to randomly switch seats at the Mad Hatter’s tea party.
ANDY LEDDINGTON