pure inc parasites and worms

Released: 29 September 2008 Label: Dockyard1

Time and time again, you have to ask yourself why labels and bands feel the need to fill their press blurb with statements like 'the band re-define rock' when surely, they must know they're simply setting themselves up to be shot down? There are perhaps a dozen bands in the forty year history of rock that can lay claim to having 're-defined' it and Pure Inc ain't one of them.
 
That's not to say that the Swiss four piece have nothing to offer. This is actually a very well constructed and highly listenable record steeped in the rich traditions of grunge, metal and classic rock. The band quote their main influences as being Led Zeppelin, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains and Black Label Society, all of which are apparent throughout. There are also traces of Pantera-ish crunch here and there with Dime-style pitch harmonics playing off nicely against a sludgey Southern groove.
 
The album kicks off in powerful fashion with The End and Evenmore, vocalist Gianni Pontillo excelling with some massive hooks reminiscent of Chris Cornell at his best. The album continues in a similarly impressive fashion, the band displaying a sound grip of melody and dynamics, while still maintaining a raw and emotive edge. Perhaps the stand out track is Serenade of Aggression which adds some surprising metalcore vocal stylings to the band's formula. Sounds like a really bad idea on paper, but really does work on record. No, really, it does.
 
If Pure Inc are let down by one thing, it is their apparent desire to throw all their riffs, hooks, fills and harmonies into every song, every time. Great bands know that great songs need room to breathe and the bits you leave out are as important as the bits you put in. Pure Inc tend to throw everything in - and then add another harmony just in case. For a band so heavily influenced by Zeppelin who were the masters of this art, it is disappointing that Pure Inc haven't quite learned this lesson yet and it does detract a little from the overall impact of the album.
 
Still, a good album and well worth hearing if you ever wondered what a heavier Black Stone Cherry would sound like if fronted by Chris Cornell and joined by a drunken Zakk Wylde on second guitar. There is nothing wrong here that couldn't be addressed by a top notch producer and a bigger budget. Don't think Rick Rubin comes cheap though does he?
 

by Marcus Jervis