Written By: Tom KieltyRating: 2 guns
The EDC's (Espirit De Corrs) newest album, Under Constant Influence, is a frantic snapshot of adolescent angst and songwriting chops, set over a well produced instrumentals. The drums are tight, the singing is angry, the guitars are riffy, and the bass brings it all together. Many elements that the EDC draws on were appropriated from early 90s Screamo, minus the political undertones. While this album has some fist pumping moments of greatness, it stumbles and falls flat coming out the gate.
Under Constant Influence consists of 5 tracks, clocking in at 14: 25. The subject matter focuses mainly on love and death, with the singer switching between Screamo yelling and melodic singing for the chorus. Overall, the pacing flows smoothly from one song to the next and the production is stark, but fitting. One of the most enjoyable aspect of the ECD lies in its drums. There is a time and place for double bass, and I applaud the EDC for steering away from that route. As far as individual songs go, Black Gold is the standout track with it's catchy chorus and simple guitar solo.
If you are going to release a short album, it needs to showcase the groups talent and musical diversity. This album left me remembering one and a half songs, with the rest of the material coming up as repetitive, derivative and boring. The biggest offender of Cookie Cutter Screamo Disorder is the penultimate, aptly named Forget The Titanic. We Sink Faster. Screamo music is not known for its technical difficulty, so I didn't expect any finger blistering breakdowns, but the album relies heavily on palm muted chug sections that work when put in contrast to some tempo changes. When those tempo changes never come, the music felt very deflated. By the end of the record, there seems to be an acceptance of mediocrity where impassioned screams draw more shrugs than moshing.
So there it is; this album isn't that good or bad, just bland. What saves it from being lost among the fold is it's length. At a little more than 14 minutes, Under Constant Influence can be refreshing when taken in small doses. For this reason, I give this album two guns out of four.
Like the EDC? Check out: Helmet, Fugazi, Alexisonfire, The Used
