Glitter Pals : Unleash the Compassion


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Straight out of Poughkeepsie, NY, Glitter Pals are Genghis Tron’s Mookie (guitar, vocals), and Jake on the drums. When Treble editor Jeff Terich pitched the album, he described this as “mad math-metal with no bass.” Now, I’d hardly call myself a metal connoisseur. I’ve been exposed to a bit of thrash, math, Nu, post, grind, core, (etc….) mostly through friends and adolescence, but it isn’t an everyday experience. Perhaps it was the idea of scarifying noise made by guys with the word `Glitter’ in their name, but something about this release just appealed to me. When the CD arrived in the post, I pressed play with feelings of anticipation and trepidation.

The resulting sound I heard, however, was much more enjoyable and exciting than what I had initially though. Unleash the Compassion opens with the Masonic instrumental stoner-metal of “Thunder Tights.” It’s somewhat akin to one of Josh Homme or Brant Bjork`s more offbeat ventures with the slightest sprinkling of Arcade Fire style backing incantation (i.e. fantastic monk chants). The title track sees some barely audible vocals emerge. I can’t really do justice to the affect created by its reverberated, recurring guitar riff and elongated drums, but the sound lies somewhere between Mudhoney, Sonic Youth and Melt Banana.

“Lovepump’s Birthday Song,” however, is pure noise. I wouldn’t quite call it math metal, though there may be a touch of the Dillinger Escape Plan’s abandon. There’s also rawness, perhaps even joyfulness in the manner the instruments are pummelled, reminiscent of the likes of Fugazi or And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead. Initially “Dig In” promises shades of the Mars Volta’s experimentation, before sacrificing them for Darkane style sonic justice.

It’s rare that anything remotely metal-based excites me nowadays, but Unleash the Compassion is one of those exceptions. It combines condensed relentlessness with the kind of impact my favourite eighties U.S indie had upon first contact. This EP sounds like it’s going to take your face off, and has stolen some warmth in the process.

Similar albums:
Sonic Youth- Evol
Darkane- Layers of Lies
The Dillinger Escape Plan- Irony Is a Dead Scene

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