TRIØXIN : "Огни"

This album came out back in February, but flew under the radar.  Russian post punk band is dark and yet pretty upbeat. Their guitar tone sounds more surf rock than death rock. They throw in some double bass and pick things up a bit when the song builds in the last minute. They rock out even harder on the second song, which I think is great as it shows there is more than one way to this sort of thing and many of the post-punk revivalist bands could use more balls. It could almost be argued that these guys are closing in more on the black gaze sort of thing as they are heavier than most of the more recent Alcest albums. The vocals are mostly in a detached monotone though never really go into a full on Ian Curtis tribute which my ex-wife used to refer to as the voice.

One thing that can be said for this album is the guitar tones are excellent and the guitar playing shows a wide range and they are not limited to holding a chord to build tension as their songs wind around a wide range of dynamics. By the time we get to  fuzzy bass driving "Cat Scratching" I find myself downloading this album as it's something I need in my life. More surf rock also surfaces. "Themselves Gods" has a more over rock feel, though ample amounts of shoe gazing are brought in thanks to the sonic spectrum of the guitars. Indie rock collides with a shady surf rock shimmer on "December Dance". It has a cool slink to it , though not dancey even in December. The vocals don't come in until midway into the song. They are not a huge contribution to the song, but work well enough.

There is more kick to "The Soul is a Fool"  thanks to the drums. The disheartened apathy of the vocals could stand to shift a little dynamically. I am not sure screamed vocals would be the answer , but hear something more going on in my head. The music is interesting enough to distract me from returning to this thought. Their drummer is this shit for this kind of music and is certainly the metal head of the band though I suspect their might be more than one. Even though it has more of a rock guitar riff somehow in my mind the previous song just kind of bleed over into this. I suppose the rather uniform vocals added to this confusion. The more sonic sweep of guitar at the end is a nice dynamic touch to the song.

On the last song it feels like the vocals are making more of an effort to actually sing. Once again they rise to the occasion when it comes the very fluid guitar lines that ebb and flow. I'll give this album a 9.5 and see how much play I get from it , the vocals are really the only thing that keeps it from being a 10. If you like shoe gaze or post punk this album is well worth your time.