Post by Djevara on Jan 5, 2011 14:03:03 GMT
London alt-rockers maturing nicely...
Djevara are a London-based alternative rock band with a political bent who seem to have been around for the better part of the last decade; though boasting a more accessible sound than some peers on the London underground scene – you can hear the words and everything - they have remained admirably independent and issue their records through their own Genin Records imprint.
Rage Against The Machine have been one name with whom Djevara have been repeatedly compared, but in truth, though Rage are an important reference point there is a lot more going on in their sound than can be satisfied with a comparison to just one band. “Hear No Evil” is the second part of their third album, “The Rising Tide”, which for reasons best known to themselves has been issued separately from the first, “Corsa Al Ribasso”, which emerged earlier this year. It contains only six tracks, but these are at least brilliantly produced, well constructed and mature examples of an approach to songwriting which owes as much to Fugazi, At The Drive-In and Million Dead as it does to the aforementioned Rage.
They do tend to write fairly long songs – in excess of seven minutes isn’t uncommon, which may be why they released this album across two CDs – though they balance this out by keeping the arrangements dynamic and varied. They also know how to produce a lightning rod of a riff as well when such a moment is called for, and how to build their compositions to powerful crescendos. Djevara have already achieved an impressive amount off their own backs; “Hear No Evil” is testament to that.
If Kerrang and the like could restrain themselves from flogging their readers the latest corporate-sponsored, parentally-approved toothless rock pap – Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Parkway Drive and a range of other dross with big PR budgets and nothing new to say spring to mind here – and find a space for a band with something to say and the means to say it, one suspects Djevara would have all the ingredients to be on the cover of the next issue. Conversely, if things carry on as they are they will remain a band who convert fans one by one but gain a special place in the hearts of those they reach. Something tells me that would suit them pretty well.
7/10
REVIEWER: Eddie Thomas
LINK: www.subba-cultcha.com/album-reviews/article.php?contentID=21970
Djevara are a London-based alternative rock band with a political bent who seem to have been around for the better part of the last decade; though boasting a more accessible sound than some peers on the London underground scene – you can hear the words and everything - they have remained admirably independent and issue their records through their own Genin Records imprint.
Rage Against The Machine have been one name with whom Djevara have been repeatedly compared, but in truth, though Rage are an important reference point there is a lot more going on in their sound than can be satisfied with a comparison to just one band. “Hear No Evil” is the second part of their third album, “The Rising Tide”, which for reasons best known to themselves has been issued separately from the first, “Corsa Al Ribasso”, which emerged earlier this year. It contains only six tracks, but these are at least brilliantly produced, well constructed and mature examples of an approach to songwriting which owes as much to Fugazi, At The Drive-In and Million Dead as it does to the aforementioned Rage.
They do tend to write fairly long songs – in excess of seven minutes isn’t uncommon, which may be why they released this album across two CDs – though they balance this out by keeping the arrangements dynamic and varied. They also know how to produce a lightning rod of a riff as well when such a moment is called for, and how to build their compositions to powerful crescendos. Djevara have already achieved an impressive amount off their own backs; “Hear No Evil” is testament to that.
If Kerrang and the like could restrain themselves from flogging their readers the latest corporate-sponsored, parentally-approved toothless rock pap – Paramore, My Chemical Romance, Parkway Drive and a range of other dross with big PR budgets and nothing new to say spring to mind here – and find a space for a band with something to say and the means to say it, one suspects Djevara would have all the ingredients to be on the cover of the next issue. Conversely, if things carry on as they are they will remain a band who convert fans one by one but gain a special place in the hearts of those they reach. Something tells me that would suit them pretty well.
7/10
REVIEWER: Eddie Thomas
LINK: www.subba-cultcha.com/album-reviews/article.php?contentID=21970