Where The Skeletons Play - Serotonin Blueprints
We’ve featured Where The Skeletons Play before, so when Garry from SAN PR sent us through a copy of their spanking new EP, Serotonin Blueprints, we were very interested indeed! Due for release on the 27th of May 2013, the guys have taken influence from the likes of Deftones, Tool and Nine Inch Nails to form a sound that’s their own skewed version of ambient hard rock. Having checked them out before, I figured that we’d better check to make sure things are still as good as I remember!
Kicking off with Perspex Queen things get off to that signature dark, out there and intriguing sound, not giving anything away but immediately grabbing your attention. Building into the track, strange sounds give way to heavy guitar work, powerful bass rhythms and solid drums, resulting in a sound which is dark, sludgy, and quite simply distorted. Continuing to build on the track with faded, crackly vocals, this is a track which is going to lure you in, keep you listening, and make you questions where you can place a band like this – they’re a hybrid of numerous genres so simply don’t fit into one succinct heading. Punctuate The Sky doesn’t do anything to add any clarity to this dilemma, once again offering up a sound which seems to transcend the boundaries of different approaches, resulting in an ambient progressive apocalyptic rock sound – that’s as close as I can get! Dark guitars more of those awesome vocal lines and rumbling ominous bass lines, this track has it all and continues to offer us an insight into the thoughts behind Where The Skeletons Play, continuing the EP as you’d expect.
Moving on to If We Just Pretend… things seem to shift slightly, moving from the in your face and distorted approach to a more chilled out and ambient style. Soft and atmospheric guitar work melds with simple yet effective bass lines to form a sound which is laid back, chilled out and a complete contrast to the earlier moments of the record, but this soon changes. Building momentum as the track progresses, soon enough the raw and powerful guitar lines take the lead once again, continuing to push the boundaries of the track and showing that nothing is as it seems on an EP like this. Shifting continually throughout the track, things move from calm to distorted, calm to soaring guitar lines, and then back full circle again to close the track – it’s like a musical journey, and one which is sure to have you captivated. …Your Innocence Exists continues this approach with aplomb, once again using laid back guitars to fully accentuate the opening of the track and to build into things. One of the shorter tracks on the EP, this one almost comes across as an intermediary track, paving the way onwards from If We Just Pretend, and preparing you fully for what is to follow.
What follows on is title track Serotonin Blueprints, immediately throwing all thoughts of calm and reflection out the window and instead, launching you straight into a distorted melee of hammering guitar and bass. Pulling back from the edge, this track once again offers up a story throughout it, refusing to accept simplicity or something straight forward and instead, keeping the listener captivated through the various twists and turns that it moves through. To me, there’s a real sense of Tool style stuff going on here, merging genres such as progressive with ambient and atmospheric to end up with a unique sound, and one which people are sure to want to hear a hell of a lot more of.
Closing with Serendipity, the final moments of the EP once again twist and turn to ensure you fully appreciate the complexity which is to be found on this EP. The soft piano line which opens proceedings sits you back and makes you reflect, offering up and emotional edge to things, whilst the soaring harmonic lines behind the mix let you know that there’s more to come, and that this is sure to be one final hurrah on the record. Building to an almighty atmospheric closing, the track which closes this EP isn’t the heaviest or most intricate, but it’s one of the hardest hitting. Offering a soundtrack designed to accompany your thoughts, your feelings, and bring about images that you’d long forgotten, this is a hell of a finish to the EP, and unexpected treat to close things off.
Where The Skeletons Play are one of those bands that on paper, are impossible to describe. It’s clear that their ideas of being a studio project influenced their style at first, but the sound they’ve now achieved on this EP sets them up for a massive step forwards, and for a lot of people to connect with them. Typically speaking, this wouldn’t be the sort of band I’d personally listen to as I tend to like simple, heavy metal, but I love this record. From start to finish you’re shown different approaches, different styles, and given different moments to accompany every possible emotion. Definitely a band you need to be looking into.
To find out more about Where The Skeletons Play, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Kicking off with Perspex Queen things get off to that signature dark, out there and intriguing sound, not giving anything away but immediately grabbing your attention. Building into the track, strange sounds give way to heavy guitar work, powerful bass rhythms and solid drums, resulting in a sound which is dark, sludgy, and quite simply distorted. Continuing to build on the track with faded, crackly vocals, this is a track which is going to lure you in, keep you listening, and make you questions where you can place a band like this – they’re a hybrid of numerous genres so simply don’t fit into one succinct heading. Punctuate The Sky doesn’t do anything to add any clarity to this dilemma, once again offering up a sound which seems to transcend the boundaries of different approaches, resulting in an ambient progressive apocalyptic rock sound – that’s as close as I can get! Dark guitars more of those awesome vocal lines and rumbling ominous bass lines, this track has it all and continues to offer us an insight into the thoughts behind Where The Skeletons Play, continuing the EP as you’d expect.
Moving on to If We Just Pretend… things seem to shift slightly, moving from the in your face and distorted approach to a more chilled out and ambient style. Soft and atmospheric guitar work melds with simple yet effective bass lines to form a sound which is laid back, chilled out and a complete contrast to the earlier moments of the record, but this soon changes. Building momentum as the track progresses, soon enough the raw and powerful guitar lines take the lead once again, continuing to push the boundaries of the track and showing that nothing is as it seems on an EP like this. Shifting continually throughout the track, things move from calm to distorted, calm to soaring guitar lines, and then back full circle again to close the track – it’s like a musical journey, and one which is sure to have you captivated. …Your Innocence Exists continues this approach with aplomb, once again using laid back guitars to fully accentuate the opening of the track and to build into things. One of the shorter tracks on the EP, this one almost comes across as an intermediary track, paving the way onwards from If We Just Pretend, and preparing you fully for what is to follow.
What follows on is title track Serotonin Blueprints, immediately throwing all thoughts of calm and reflection out the window and instead, launching you straight into a distorted melee of hammering guitar and bass. Pulling back from the edge, this track once again offers up a story throughout it, refusing to accept simplicity or something straight forward and instead, keeping the listener captivated through the various twists and turns that it moves through. To me, there’s a real sense of Tool style stuff going on here, merging genres such as progressive with ambient and atmospheric to end up with a unique sound, and one which people are sure to want to hear a hell of a lot more of.
Closing with Serendipity, the final moments of the EP once again twist and turn to ensure you fully appreciate the complexity which is to be found on this EP. The soft piano line which opens proceedings sits you back and makes you reflect, offering up and emotional edge to things, whilst the soaring harmonic lines behind the mix let you know that there’s more to come, and that this is sure to be one final hurrah on the record. Building to an almighty atmospheric closing, the track which closes this EP isn’t the heaviest or most intricate, but it’s one of the hardest hitting. Offering a soundtrack designed to accompany your thoughts, your feelings, and bring about images that you’d long forgotten, this is a hell of a finish to the EP, and unexpected treat to close things off.
Where The Skeletons Play are one of those bands that on paper, are impossible to describe. It’s clear that their ideas of being a studio project influenced their style at first, but the sound they’ve now achieved on this EP sets them up for a massive step forwards, and for a lot of people to connect with them. Typically speaking, this wouldn’t be the sort of band I’d personally listen to as I tend to like simple, heavy metal, but I love this record. From start to finish you’re shown different approaches, different styles, and given different moments to accompany every possible emotion. Definitely a band you need to be looking into.
To find out more about Where The Skeletons Play, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
Where The Skeletons Play
Garry from SAN PR recently sent us through details of Where The Skeletons Play and their upcoming release, Generation Wars, to see what we thought of things. Stating that they’re offering up a sound akin to a mix of Deftones combined with Tool, this Bristolian ambient hard rock outfit are getting out there to get themselves known and their music heard. Drawing influence from the likes of Tool, Mastadon and Nine Inch Nails, these guys are forging rhythms and melodies together with engaging vocals and musical elements recorded on equipment which has served countless bands before them – which promises to be something which is going to be well worth a listen.
The Ghosts On The Frontline gets things going, opening with an ominous and dark sound which seems to build around you, spooky crackling elements forging the path and the mix building up as each second passes. There’s a serene sense of melody built within the dark and mysterious opening moments, almost pulling you into a sense of ambience and relaxation, luring you in and daring you to listen to what the band can do. Despite there not being any vocals on the track, this introduction to the band sets the scene as dark and ambient, but then Never Born A Criminal takes the lead. Continuing to build around you as the track comes into being, the dark approach continues, this time propagated by low bass tones and intricate guitar work, all underpinning a soft vocal line which continues to add to the haunting nature of things. Building in power, the hammering rhythms which bombard you once the track takes full form are impossible to resist, giving you an insight into the heavier side of the band without allowing things to become overbearing. What’s most striking about this track is the combination of hard and soft, the ability to take ambient music and combine it with hard hitting sections and vocals which draw you in to listen to every single element of the track, it’s a cleverly worked mix.
At Your Epicenter comes as somewhat of a shock after the hard hitting closing of the last track, yet once again you find yourself being drawn into the mix and listening for what’s going to come up. Soft guitar lines combine with a dark and bassy backing, a haunting vocal echoing around within the mix and getting you reaching for that volume up button. Once again taking the sounds of ambience and combining them with a dark and ominous approach, there’s something about this track which makes you think of the night, lights almost glistening around you as the shadows of the track envelop you and leave you simply listening to what’s going on. The build up to this track makes the eventual melee sound even more savage, the drums combining with the intricately played guitar work and leaving you breathless, once again hinting at a heavier edge to these guys.
When The World Was In Black And White comes up next and opens in a far more conventional fashion, this time using the guitars to build into the track but once again managing to keep things on a level which borders on the restrained whilst still remaining interesting. Throwing down shortly after this into another hard hitting mix of guitars and drums, this is another track which is going to make you sit back and marvel at the bands ability to craft such complex times. Showing off their influences throughout, this track stands out as a serious high point on the album, hinting that this could well end up being a single or the track which gets them some serious attention – definitely one to make sure you check out. Closing with 41526 004 there’s one last chance to get an insight into the workings of the band, leaving you with more ambience and spoken words designed to test your mind as well as your judgement of music. It’s an unconventional close to the album, leaving things on the ambient side and making you question what they’re going to do to follow on from a record like this. The final hard hitting moments of guitar work within the track leave me with one firm thought in my mind – where can I see these guys live?
Where The Skeletons Play are one of those bands who have got a clear aim in their music, and it’s not necessarily one which everyone will understand, but I don’t think that matters. Go into listening to this with an open mind and prepare to be astounded, it’s a record which is going to relax you, make you think and make you want to hear more – in short, it’s a hell of an achievement.
To find out more about Where The Skeletons Play, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls
The Ghosts On The Frontline gets things going, opening with an ominous and dark sound which seems to build around you, spooky crackling elements forging the path and the mix building up as each second passes. There’s a serene sense of melody built within the dark and mysterious opening moments, almost pulling you into a sense of ambience and relaxation, luring you in and daring you to listen to what the band can do. Despite there not being any vocals on the track, this introduction to the band sets the scene as dark and ambient, but then Never Born A Criminal takes the lead. Continuing to build around you as the track comes into being, the dark approach continues, this time propagated by low bass tones and intricate guitar work, all underpinning a soft vocal line which continues to add to the haunting nature of things. Building in power, the hammering rhythms which bombard you once the track takes full form are impossible to resist, giving you an insight into the heavier side of the band without allowing things to become overbearing. What’s most striking about this track is the combination of hard and soft, the ability to take ambient music and combine it with hard hitting sections and vocals which draw you in to listen to every single element of the track, it’s a cleverly worked mix.
At Your Epicenter comes as somewhat of a shock after the hard hitting closing of the last track, yet once again you find yourself being drawn into the mix and listening for what’s going to come up. Soft guitar lines combine with a dark and bassy backing, a haunting vocal echoing around within the mix and getting you reaching for that volume up button. Once again taking the sounds of ambience and combining them with a dark and ominous approach, there’s something about this track which makes you think of the night, lights almost glistening around you as the shadows of the track envelop you and leave you simply listening to what’s going on. The build up to this track makes the eventual melee sound even more savage, the drums combining with the intricately played guitar work and leaving you breathless, once again hinting at a heavier edge to these guys.
When The World Was In Black And White comes up next and opens in a far more conventional fashion, this time using the guitars to build into the track but once again managing to keep things on a level which borders on the restrained whilst still remaining interesting. Throwing down shortly after this into another hard hitting mix of guitars and drums, this is another track which is going to make you sit back and marvel at the bands ability to craft such complex times. Showing off their influences throughout, this track stands out as a serious high point on the album, hinting that this could well end up being a single or the track which gets them some serious attention – definitely one to make sure you check out. Closing with 41526 004 there’s one last chance to get an insight into the workings of the band, leaving you with more ambience and spoken words designed to test your mind as well as your judgement of music. It’s an unconventional close to the album, leaving things on the ambient side and making you question what they’re going to do to follow on from a record like this. The final hard hitting moments of guitar work within the track leave me with one firm thought in my mind – where can I see these guys live?
Where The Skeletons Play are one of those bands who have got a clear aim in their music, and it’s not necessarily one which everyone will understand, but I don’t think that matters. Go into listening to this with an open mind and prepare to be astounded, it’s a record which is going to relax you, make you think and make you want to hear more – in short, it’s a hell of an achievement.
To find out more about Where The Skeletons Play, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Words: Dave Nicholls