If ever a band had potential enough to make me wish that I could fast-forward three years into the future so that I would be able to hear exactly how utterly brilliant they turned out to be, it's Sold. With a potent and vicious brand of post-hardcore that is expansive enough to take in some Dillinger Escape Plan-esque guitar runs at the same time as creating a truly epic, world-munching sound that veers pleasingly towards Mogwai, Sold are simply thrilling.
The three tracks on Narcissus Falls are all cogent exercises in powerful restraint. Opener 'The Chasm' is a wonderfully sweeping opus that beats the shit out of you with its bludgeoning riffs before mopping your bloody brow using a rag of understated melody and harmony, all the while telling you funny stories composed of lightning-fast guitar licks that hold the attention like a vice. Right when it looks like they're settling down into one image, Sold rip up the rulebook to ensure that they never even get near being boring. It takes a truly special artist to know the limits not only of their own talents, but the limits of what they want to convey. Sold could be a thuddingly competent metal band just as easily as an ambient post-rock outfit, but they compile all these influences into something unique. There's a bit of Tool in 'Behind The Rise', and 'Ithaca' could be an outtake from We Are The Romans (oh yes, I went there), but not so much that they don't have an identity of their own. It's like the next step in hardcore evolution is here.
Sold are well worth getting interested in. That's the bottom line. They're not perfect, but they're a damn sight more exciting than most of the other unknowns out there.
www.soldmusic.co.uk
soldmusic@hotmail.com
