Paradox
Pete from Irish band Paradox was good enough to get in touch about some of their music. As I’ve said before I’ve never really had Ireland down as a country which much music comes from, but it appears I’ve been missing out on a fair bit! I settled down to have a listen to what’s on offer!
Opening with Mr Bureaucracy you’re immediately taken aback by the sound these guys have achieved, it’s so refined and to the point that you question whether this is really a band you’ve not heard before. At the same time, the raw and powerful edge in the music keeps it real and down to earth, it’s quite a combo! Politically charged from the outset these guys sound like a hybrid of Nirvana and Bush with a heavier edge to the music. The track is catchy from the outset, lead primarily by the guitar line but listen to the drums and what they do, then listen to the broken down section midway through – these are guys who know how to play their instruments and write a song.
As the track fades and Repress Excess kicks in everything slows down a little, the acoustic guitar takes over the lead, the vocals become soothing and smooth and the mood settles into an eerie calm. As the drums kick in to push the track onwards you find yourself sitting back and questioning the band again, why are they not more well-known? This track is well written, well produced and well played grunge with a modern edge to it, it’s spot on. Mind Mud however serves as a bit of a sharp contrast against the previous track, syncopated and sludgy this track sounds akin to some of the more raw Silverchair from the Frogstomp days, it’s awesome once again to hear. Adding in some roared vocals to the mix, this track leaves you with no questions left, just the realisation that you need to hear more.
Corporate Pollution moves in another direction, opening with faded vocals and a backing guitar line then kicking back in with those sludgy guitar licks again. As the guitar line progresses accompanied by those haunting vocals you know something’s coming, something’s building then the chorus kicks in. Catchy straight off the mark, this is another track which delivers fully as promised and you soon find yourself chanting along to ‘starve the system’. Living Demise soon kicks in, opening acoustic but soon finding that distortion pedal again, the most striking thing here is the simplicity yet effectiveness of the guitar riff – it’s solid, heavy and to the point. This track has possibly the ‘biggest’ chorus of all the tracks I’ve had a listen to, the sound created is far beyond anything I expected and carries the track to the top of my list.
Downward Spiral is another crunchy track, opening as it means to go on drawing riffs from all the best places and backing everything with a solid rhythm section before throwing some roaring vocals into the mix for consideration – it’s different to the other tracks so far but it works! As the next track, Lame and Languid, opens with ‘can you listen to how I’m feeling’ over an acoustic line before kicking in with those guitars again you find yourself realising this band can do it all. Over the tracks so far they’ve proven they can do heavy, soft, grungy, sludgy, everything which is good in music! What You Were proves this even further as the opening ‘funky’ riff kicks in before the track becomes a Hole-esque ditty, funky, grungy and catchy from the outset, this track will have you nodding along within seconds whether you want to or not! I can also imagine this is a live anthem, one which will get the crowd jumping all over the place to the catchy beat.
The final two tracks (for the purposes of the review, there are more on their various sites) push the boat home and leave you in need of hearing more. Apathy is an almost hypnotic track featuring layered vocals, Alice in Chains style guitars and a solid bass line, very much like listening to mid 90’s music but with a modern edge. Spasm finishes the selection off nicely with a pounding drum and bass laden intro, feedback from guitars then an almighty riff kicking in. This is a track which will please even the heaviest fan, melodic yet heavy from the outset and never relenting up until the final second.
Normally I try to cover every track a band features on their sites in order to give a varied over view, but with these guys there are (firstly) a lot of tracks so I’d end up wittering on for pages and (secondly) so many influences coming through here it’s impossible to list them all. This music is timeless, solid and to the point. Coming across as heavy sometimes and soft and soothing at others, I’d happily sit for hours listening to these guys play. They need to get their album over here, get more people on to them and get their name out there – they’re a band who represent this entire section of the website, a band you need to hear.
To find out more about Paradox, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Check out their video to Mr Bureacracy below!
Opening with Mr Bureaucracy you’re immediately taken aback by the sound these guys have achieved, it’s so refined and to the point that you question whether this is really a band you’ve not heard before. At the same time, the raw and powerful edge in the music keeps it real and down to earth, it’s quite a combo! Politically charged from the outset these guys sound like a hybrid of Nirvana and Bush with a heavier edge to the music. The track is catchy from the outset, lead primarily by the guitar line but listen to the drums and what they do, then listen to the broken down section midway through – these are guys who know how to play their instruments and write a song.
As the track fades and Repress Excess kicks in everything slows down a little, the acoustic guitar takes over the lead, the vocals become soothing and smooth and the mood settles into an eerie calm. As the drums kick in to push the track onwards you find yourself sitting back and questioning the band again, why are they not more well-known? This track is well written, well produced and well played grunge with a modern edge to it, it’s spot on. Mind Mud however serves as a bit of a sharp contrast against the previous track, syncopated and sludgy this track sounds akin to some of the more raw Silverchair from the Frogstomp days, it’s awesome once again to hear. Adding in some roared vocals to the mix, this track leaves you with no questions left, just the realisation that you need to hear more.
Corporate Pollution moves in another direction, opening with faded vocals and a backing guitar line then kicking back in with those sludgy guitar licks again. As the guitar line progresses accompanied by those haunting vocals you know something’s coming, something’s building then the chorus kicks in. Catchy straight off the mark, this is another track which delivers fully as promised and you soon find yourself chanting along to ‘starve the system’. Living Demise soon kicks in, opening acoustic but soon finding that distortion pedal again, the most striking thing here is the simplicity yet effectiveness of the guitar riff – it’s solid, heavy and to the point. This track has possibly the ‘biggest’ chorus of all the tracks I’ve had a listen to, the sound created is far beyond anything I expected and carries the track to the top of my list.
Downward Spiral is another crunchy track, opening as it means to go on drawing riffs from all the best places and backing everything with a solid rhythm section before throwing some roaring vocals into the mix for consideration – it’s different to the other tracks so far but it works! As the next track, Lame and Languid, opens with ‘can you listen to how I’m feeling’ over an acoustic line before kicking in with those guitars again you find yourself realising this band can do it all. Over the tracks so far they’ve proven they can do heavy, soft, grungy, sludgy, everything which is good in music! What You Were proves this even further as the opening ‘funky’ riff kicks in before the track becomes a Hole-esque ditty, funky, grungy and catchy from the outset, this track will have you nodding along within seconds whether you want to or not! I can also imagine this is a live anthem, one which will get the crowd jumping all over the place to the catchy beat.
The final two tracks (for the purposes of the review, there are more on their various sites) push the boat home and leave you in need of hearing more. Apathy is an almost hypnotic track featuring layered vocals, Alice in Chains style guitars and a solid bass line, very much like listening to mid 90’s music but with a modern edge. Spasm finishes the selection off nicely with a pounding drum and bass laden intro, feedback from guitars then an almighty riff kicking in. This is a track which will please even the heaviest fan, melodic yet heavy from the outset and never relenting up until the final second.
Normally I try to cover every track a band features on their sites in order to give a varied over view, but with these guys there are (firstly) a lot of tracks so I’d end up wittering on for pages and (secondly) so many influences coming through here it’s impossible to list them all. This music is timeless, solid and to the point. Coming across as heavy sometimes and soft and soothing at others, I’d happily sit for hours listening to these guys play. They need to get their album over here, get more people on to them and get their name out there – they’re a band who represent this entire section of the website, a band you need to hear.
To find out more about Paradox, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Check out their video to Mr Bureacracy below!