WAVES OF VISUAL DECAY

Just a year on from their debut "Conspiracy in mind", and Communic returned in 2006 with a set of seven more lengthy numbers. With an unchanged line up, the Norwegians once again decamped to Denmark for the recording sessions. The result is an album which builds on the ground broken by their debut, while remaining very much in the same mould. The very basic line up of guitar, vocals, bass and drums indicates once again that we should not expect a great diversity of sound, and that expectation proves correct.

The order of the day is metal, with heavy guitar riffs over a powerhouse backing. The vocal arrangements are often complex, perhaps at times unnecessarily so. On the opening 8½ minute "Under a Luminous Sky" for example, we are presented with three or four different vocal styles in as many minutes. While the music twists and turns through varying but similar tunes, I hesitate to describe it as progressive. In some ways, like with so many metal bands, the album flatters to deceive, the succession of slightly varied riffs disguising an underlying sameness.

As with the debut, it is on the slightly slower but equally powerful tracks such as "Frozen asleep in the park" that the vocal prowess of the band comes to the fore, and with it delivers the pick of the songs. "Fooled by the serpent" is another song with impressive vocals, the arrangement including some welcome lighter moments and some all too rare lead guitar soloing. The title track is the pinnacle of the album, as it contains the strongest melodies and is more genuine diversity than its peers. I would recommend the track to anyone looking for a first impression of the band.

Apart from a very brief possibility, I am unable to detect any keyboards being used this time. They seemed to appear unaccredited on the debut.

The overall result is a fine album which for me suffers from a sense of sameness. That sameness is both in respect of the tracks gathered here, and with the previous album. There is no doubt that the band have talents both in the creation and the performance of the music. It is good to see that they have ambitions when it comes to the arrangements, I only wish those ambitions could be extended to a bit more diversity of sound. Apart from that grumble, this is a fine metal album.

The album concludes with two demos of tracks which appeared on the first album. The versions here are clearly well advanced in their preparation, but their presence here seems somewhat superfluous.

Share this COMMUNIC review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Easy Livin
• Report this review (#204764)
• Buy COMMUNIC music online with PA partners
• Show all COMMUNIC MP3/Stream
• Go to COMMUNIC page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Waves of Visual Decay page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for COMMUNIC related discussions