In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells the ‘Parable of the Prodigal Son’. In the story, the son uses up all his riches, returns to his roots, and is embraced. This, as we shall see, is a fitting way to describe Prodigal’s debut EP ‘The Floating World’. Let’s explain.
Culture goes around in circles. Anywhere you look you can see repeating patterns. In politics, fashion, art. Nothing stays the same but the important thing is that each time a circle repeats, the context changes. Nothing is exactly the same. Everything is a reaction to a reaction to a reaction. That’s where Prodigal come in. After years of metal bands constructing and polishing their music, they’re doing something different. They’re getting in a room together and capturing the magic. Obviously, it’s not just that, but it is key to understanding what ‘The Floating World’ is, and why it works.
The EP has one distinctive feature; it was recorded live. The guitar strings squeak and squeal, the drums thud and thump, you can feel the cymbals ringing out and the distinctive thwack of the snare. It’s a sound that might leave you digging through your 30-year-old music collection trying to find the indie label nu-metal bands it reminds you of, and it’s not a bad thing. It’s the same impulse behind the garage rock revival. Something old swaggering in dressed as something new. In that vein, the best way to describe their sound is if early Deftones were fronted by Korn’s Jonathan Davies.
While their influences aren’t subtle, there’s something different here; the combination of sounds feels exciting, and it’s due to the shifting guitars. As they shift gear between low bassy riffs and high stabs, it results in a thrilling mix of drive and panic. On ‘Drowned’, that switch is so extreme the notes seem to be bent by a whammy pedal creating a massive sound. When combined with droning, druggy, moaning on ‘The Door’ or indeed the rapid-fire verses on ‘Drowned’, these guitar tricks create a sense of purpose. It’s a trick that also holds together the delightfully messy ‘Pulling Apart’.
When you make a recording, it’s difficult to separate the song from its presentation, like blowing on the edges of a paper napkin. Here, the combination of nu-metal style riffs, yelled vocals and swirling effect pedals are blended in a way that renders the vocals sounding like cries for help in a sea of filth.
At the EP’s midpoint ‘Opium-12’ provides the highlight. It’s built around a massive repeating riff that stops and starts with such a huge punch it’ll smash a grin onto your face. On ‘Undue’ the lead and strummed guitars offer a greater sense of breadth. But as it descends into an abyss of heavy, sludgy detuned riffs and squeals, it leaves a mess of sweaty catharsis.
Having used up all his glittering riches, the prodigal son returned poor, and was embraced. Prodigal have shed all the trappings of modern production. They arrive wanting to be loved. ‘The Floating World’ makes that very easy.
IAN KENWORTHY