Figure Of Six
Step One

I discovered this group when I went to Cesena on November 4, 2006, to attend the Dry Kill Logic concert. They played shortly before the American band, and they made a decent impression on me, so much so that I decided to download their only album so far, Step One.

Figure Of Six is a band from Cesena (so, that time you could really say they "played at home"), formed in 1995 and composed of 7 members (a singer, two guitarists, a bassist, a drummer, a keyboardist, and a DJ).

How does Step One sound? It's a nu-metal with industrial and hardcore influences. Yes, indeed, the band's main inspirations can be found in KoRn (mostly in the riffing), Ill Niño (excluding the Latin-American parts), and some also say Slipknot (for the violent parts) and Linkin Park (for the melodic parts). So, as one can intuit, their sound includes violent outbursts alternating with melodic choruses (some even fairly "radio-friendly"), all enriched by a massive presence of scratch and "dark" electronic effects that give it a somewhat "gothic" touch.

The tracks that immediately struck me from this album are "My Self" and "Scream", but not for any particular reason, simply because these were the songs that most impressed me at the concert, and consequently, they are the only ones I remembered (I must remind you that before that live show, I didn’t know the band, and consequently not even the songs). They are certainly very intense and energetic tracks (especially the second one, with some hardcore verses) and fully adhere to the album's general theme. "Go Away" and "With My Eyes" are more devoted to the well-known aggressive-melodic pair, as per nu-metal tradition; they are two other excellent episodes within the album. The opening "Vital Frequency" is another great track, although it's a bit marred by subpar recording: the singer's voice struggles in vain to carve out some space, but unfortunately, despite everything, you can’t understand a word he says. The riffing is excellent nonetheless. "Your Enemy" and "Wake Me Up", despite being decent tracks, don’t speak to me, and unfortunately, they bring down the average a bit. "Inside" is the album’s "ballad": piano notes introduce a tormented and depressive atmosphere that culminates in a shouted chorus. Another good track. And moreover, in the second verse, there even appears, believe it or not, a flute!

A note: out of the 12 tracks on the album, 4 are just instrumental interludes titled "Darkside".

In conclusion, this Step One is really a good album, even if it has some flaws, such as the recording (well, after all, it is an independent product) that in some cases damages certain parts of the album (like in "Vital Frequency" for example, but also in "Inside" and "Your Enemy"), and the presence of those 2 underwhelming tracks ("Your Enemy" and "Wake Me Up" indeed). I hope (and I'm sure) they will improve in the future, because they are a very valid band, good musicians, and even live, they’re not bad at all. The "big" names of new Italian metal are still far ahead of FO6, but they are not unreachable, quite the contrary…