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CD ReviewConvergence – “Points of View”By Marcus Pan
Made up of Alessandro Palladini on vocals, Giacomo Mambriani on guitars/synths, Massimiliano Andrini on bass and Michelagelo Naldini on drums, Convergence obviously hail from Italy. Their song structure is slightly experimental much like work by Korn or Marilyn Manson, but their lyrical work is a bit hum-drum rife with played out cliche's of teenage angst. The "My god, I'm roaming inside myself" of Strike the End or "I'm just a poor old man who's dying" of Six Feet Under. Considering the music itself is well done, I think it's the lyrics (and at times the whisper-growl technique utilized by Alessandro) that detracts from Points of View and regulated it to a "more of the same" overall result. Samples of a CNN world-peace discussion opens the first track, Bleed, and promptly goes into a Mansonesque movement with the worst lyrics on the album: "I cut my wrist, watching my blood flow." As we move into Strike the End, I'm again enjoying the thrash movements and poppy bass/guitar breakdowns and riffwork. Anger permeates this track. Interesting drumming, though it will sometimes be off by just a sixteenth or so during multi-rolls giving the track an annoying drag noticeable during quiter sections. Another noticeable thing is how easily it is to mistake Palladini's trilling screams with someone who's drank too much and is letting loose on the sidewalk in front of the seediest bar in town. I'm still not sure if I enjoy the sidewalk yacking vocalizations or the growly "oh god the pain" vocalizations - jury's out on that one for now. Six Feet Under opens with some ballad piano, slow moving and brings in the 4/4 heaviness of standard fare alterna-metal - probably one of the better ones here, even if the lyrics are stil banal at best. Alessandro's diction during power ballad Always the Same is blurred and sounds drunken. Silent, with its EBM stylings and electronic experiments is the best track on the album, and would be brilliant if not for the over-the-top growliness of the vocals. The overall result of Convergence's Points of View is that it's decently executed, but is detracted from heavily by its silly ass vocals, teeny-bopper cliches and mild attempt to be something that's been around for a while already without pushing the envelope with few exceptions (Silent, for example, had promise). I find it hum-drum and forgettable. Contact Information: Click to Buy! |
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Banal but not badly done, Convergence's
Points of View deliver to us a nu-metal blend of thrash, Korn-esque
riffs and Creed-wannabe ballads. While it's nothing that stands out against the
backdrop of artists that have been plowing this genre for years now, it's at
least a decent example of it, though missing the excitement that came with the
onset of Freak on a Leash and Beautiful People in the earlier
days of nu-metal fun.
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