One Way Mirror // Review
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CD: One Way Mirror Released: 30 June 2008 |
One Way Mirror’s eponymous debut is a fairly decent metal album but lacks the imagination to stand out from the crowd. They have a big sound and a storming production that at least makes them listenable. The choruses are definitely of the catchy variety, but overall there was little that grabbed my attention here.
Formed in France in 2005 by five friends from other bands including vocalist Guillaume Bideau from Mnemic, brothers David and Franck Potvin from Lyzanxia, Soilwork's drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist Loic Colin, they have certainly found a tight, powerful style; the only problem being that their “sound” isn’t particularly original.
Destination Device kicks off the proceedings with some stomping riffs, and if it were a taste of something more to come, then it would be a damned good start. The only drawback is that almost every song that follows it sounds almost identical!
As You Are Now kicks off with some squelchy keyboards that give way to a sub-Ministry riff that stomps along with a great deal of bluster and intent and yet achieves very little in the way of impression until the obligatory and admittedly catchy emo-inspired chorus.
There are some good riffs peppering this album, like the crunchy descending chug of ReDream, and the bludgeoning Sockracer (whatever one of those is) and even a chorus or two that stands out, such as Keeping Me Away, but the songs themselves are hard to discern as they are uniformly of the same mid-tempo pacing, and all clocking in at around the same duration.
Which is a pity as every now and again a track really comes together, such as their power-ballad Empty Spaces which is probably one of the standout tracks of the album, along with Keeping Me Away and the opener Destination Device. They really could do with a bit more variation here to keep things interesting.
The musicianship seems pretty solid throughout without any particular virtuosity; Guillame has an accessible and varied range as a vocalist. The drumming is certainly powerful when the double kick lets rip, and the guitar solos are competent without being noticeably flashy.
The strangest track here is the cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s hit Relax which is pretty faithful to the original. It may get them noticed on novelty value alone, but I hope they know what the song is about, what with them not being native English speakers!
Overall, One Way Mirror is a solid, if somewhat uninspiring album. It’s pretty damned heavy and has its moments, but is overall a bit samey with the songs having a tendency to blur into one another. It’s not a bad album by any means; it’s just rather unoriginal. Since it’s only their debut release, they may well develop in future and if their touring schedule is any measure of their ambition, with dates across Europe in the coming months, they may be a band to keep an eye on in the future.
Review by Steven Hargraves
Track Listing
| One Way Mirror |
[01] Destination Device [03] ReDream [05] Empty Spaces |
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