What do you get when you mix the crazy antics of The Locust, the crashing drums and churning riffs of The Blood Brothers and the hyperactive spazzyness of At The Drive In? The Fall of Troy, that’s who. Equal Vision’s latest signees are a fantastically fraught trio that mix energy with expert precision to show just why they’re so highly rated on the US underground. For a three-piece they make quite a din – you can imagine limbs flailing in time to some pretty chaotic beats, as guitars swish and high-pitched vocals squak and squeal.
‘Doppelgänger’ is as progressive an album as any of the recent Mars Volta records – twisting elements of post-hardcore and metal sounds and making them fresh and new. Lead vocalist Thomas Erak has a crazy sound that adds a layer of originality to proceedings (and my lazy Blood brothers comparison), as he switches from schizophrenic vocals to more catchy parts in the swift blink of a chord change. The guitars quite literally shred at times, taking influence from the more metal side of things, with breackneck speed and plenty of organised chaos.
A lot of the bands of this ilk come across as forced and cheesy, but The Fall of Troy always manage to sound interesting and powerful – a mean feat when you consider just three people make up this band. With a lot of people focusing on more metal bands at the minute, The Fall of Troy could well be one of the forerunners of any kind of renaissance, this is a solid record and one well worth checking out.
equal vision
paul