The buzz has started already. Japanese quintet FACT graced the pages of the mainstream music press last month and has now reportedly secured a slot at next month’s inaugural Sonisphere festival. Could this then be a case of the ‘ultra cool’ oriental market being tapped for the next hip, tell-all-your-friends-quick sensation? Possibly, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work.
The thing with this self-titled debut album is that style-wise it’s a bit all over the place. Opening track “Paradox” has that 36 Crazyfists dichotomy about it; verses that are fiercely rough infiltrated by sickly sweet melodic choruses that annoyingly attention seek so much so that they’re bound to be stuck in your head for days after. The song is closed out by some electronic jiggery-pokery that blurts out hellogoodbye comparisons. It’s probably the closest to a blueprint of the band we get on the album given the quantity of digressions and altered intentions.
“Reborn” is essentially a thrash metal offering that implies back to “St. Anger” era Metallica, only layered with a punk-rock spirit. “Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence” opens with an atmospheric resonance accompanied by poppy vocals that are soon swallowed up in guttural menace. “Snow” pretty much fits the template set out in the emo/metalcore scene (Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine) whilst “1-2” really throws a spanner in the mix with some Chiptune splattered electro-pop cum D&B (more of this, please).
Sound messy? Actually it’s anything but. Each song seems to exist in its own little bracket, fitting a style for the allotted amount of time before the next track comes along to alter proceedings. What it means is that “FACT” as an album is a little disjointed. It’s suffering a bit of an identity crisis, not really knowing what it wants to be when it grows up. Whereas compatriots of FACT the band (Mad Capsule Markets, Melt Banana) awe by being almost unclassifiable in their experimentalist endeavours, FACT seems to still be flicking through a huge number of American influences to decide which one to sound like this week.
Still, it’s hard to fault these songs on an individual basis. Impeccably recorded and catchier than a Mexican flu pandemic for the most part (even the earth-shakingly brutal parts), there’s plenty hear to prick up the ears and usher in a new continent of fans. But pricking ears is one thing, keeping those ears glued to the speakers is a much tougher task. Without a doubt this has potential and proves worth a listen, there’s just a sense that it could do with a little reeling in.
Alex