Issue
#111
Oct. '08
The past, present, and
future…
6 years ago in 02, Kelly
L'Heureux sent me a 4 song EP by her
band Atrina. It was called
“searching
for a better way….” an unheralded heavy
punk, Fuzz fused journey through
musical expression which was so far out on the edge that the Velvet
Underground
would have dug listening to it. Unfortunately, an unforeseen disbanding
prevented this golden child of 60s grunge, early 70s Metal &
Glam, late 70s
punk and every burn and slash Metal band of the 00s from being properly
exposed. L’Heureux along
with Johnny
B. and Warren B. crafted songs that rivaled the production values of
Alan
Parsons, when he was engineering Dark Side Of The Moon for Pink Floyd,
crossed
with a Hard Core post-punk sound while still coming across as fresh and
up
beat.
Now, here in Oct ’08, Kelly
L’Heureux sends me a 5 song EP “(beautiful
evidence)” by her “new” band Atrina.
It is as amazing an accomplishment of sound, style and substance as you
will
find in any of today’s recordings. You will be aurally
hypnotized before you
have a chance to realize what is going on. The new line up of L’Heureux (guitars, vox, piano,
trumpet, samples), Will Iannuzzi
(bass), Dave Parmelee (drums,
percussion), Phil Law (guitar) take
that far out edge and reel it in, to form a Rock sound that can only be
described as; a base root of Classic 60s/70s Metal a la` Led Zeppelin,
Black
Sabbath, Deep Purple, etc. mixed with complements of Prog-Metal (Rush
2112 to
be exact), blended with a Smashing Pumpkins finesse/aggression and
Trent
Reznor/Nine Inch Nail Industrial mentality.
“seven ways”
rings in
upon a muted distant thunder of drums as
the rest of the band slips in to the sound in ways that are opening
doors as we
skate on past. A journey is surely beginning…
Then, bam! We’re in metal
heaven, but what stands out almost immediately
is that the instrumentation, the chord and note arrangements, are not
buried
into the mix via heavy compression in efforts to amp up the sound.
Instead, Atrina amps it up with
production
values that were abandoned long ago. Atrina
understands that amping up through production compression would rob
their sound
of its art. The Old School production techniques show through when,
only 3
minutes in, your senses are tingling from an edginess of music that
hasn’t been
achieved in this artistic of a swoop in decades. Whatever Kelly had
ingested in
the past 6 years has certainly paid off – (and by ingested it
was not meant as
a sly drug reference, but as a studious compliment). Her music
consumption has
taught her the entire collection of teen angst, musical rage and
expression,
that when broken down into a musical score, can rival that of all the
best hard
rock/metal/punk/grunge bands of the past, present and future.
(beautiful evidence)
continues with “a
witness,”
production of this track
has the Butch Vig, Garbage, Smashing Pumpkins hand all over it. Next,
the
Portishead eeriness of the title track has us throwing down to a sound
birthed
in such maturity that it is a vital part of the past, present and
future. By
the time the total Fuzz tones take over to close out the track
we’re just
trippin’ in the escapism. The Math Rock opening of “feed”
develops quickly
into a Monster Metal distortion anthem spiced with otherworldly vocals
and
Kelly’s coupe de grace trumpets, which arrive to herald
countless victories and
plunge us back into the depths of sound that continue to attach
themselves to
our conscious. It’s a cerebral indoctrination to metal fused
with art, a
cultured Head Banger triumph over most musical categories of the day
and
becomes a part of the rock landscape for years to come.
The
masterstroke of this 1 sided Album
is the bleed-over segues as we
change tracks, none more so deserving than the final one melding
“feed”
with “how
can you have a beautiful ending without making beautiful mistakes?”
– so infused is this one that you’ll be
backtracking several times to fully
understand, get, and marvel at the way it was put together. The final 2:35 collage
of studio produced loops and
samples (Atrina’s own
recorded samples)
gradually brings us out of our intense aural hypnosis with such finesse
that we
are left with a feeling mostly reserved for moments of all-knowing
bliss.
The past,
present, and
future…
If you listen
very closely,
The (beautiful
evidence)
is
here.
(beautiful evidence)
by Atrina
is available now for: $4.99 +s/h*
View
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*Shipping
&
Handling charges:
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for the first 2 CDs
ordered,
Add $1.50 per each CD after.
Canada - $5.00 for the
first
CD ordered,
Add $2.00 per each CD after.
Everywhere else -$7.00
for the
first CD ordered,
Add $3.00 per each CD after.
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