Arcane Roots
Left Fire

Inspiration, emulation, copy.

How many bands, after the release of albums like "Relationship of Command" or even better, "De-Loused in The Comatorium", started playing with distorted (but not too much) guitars, impossible rhythms, and quite "androgynous" vocals?

And how many of these have disastrously failed? 

Suddenly, entire generations discovered that rock was not dead, that there was something beyond playing the chords of "Stairway To Heaven" endlessly, but very few students have surpassed their masters.

However, one day while having a coffee at my favorite bar, I unexpectedly discover that the idiot serving sandwiches plays in the coolest band the UK has produced so far.

Needless to say, that very evening I open Kerrang! and find a review where their mini-album is surrounded by unparalleled praise, and in no time it's already ready on my iPod thanks to illegal download.

Let's put it this way, if almost 10 years ago there hadn't been a certain "Tremulant", people would already be shouting a miracle: "Left Fire" is one of the coolest debut EPs I've ever heard in my life, a blend of hysterical, melodic, and inspired rock truly hard to find even in such fertile ground: I can barely recommend a favorite track due to the high average quality of the songs, which lie somewhere between increasingly commanding math rock and the most inspired alternative/prog/hardcore.

A flaw? The really too strong resemblance to the former At The Drive-In, both vocally and artistically/compositionally, which, for now, unfortunately represents much more than a simple inspiration; try putting on any track from their debut after listening to this EP and try to find any differences... but having said that, in the end, we don't care, Arcane Roots stand out for their vastly superior skill and intelligence and to not discover an album like "Left Fire" would truly be a shame.

The new The Mars Volta?