This is the new band from Graham ‘Pin’ Pinney, the former guitarist from quirky UK progressive metallers Sikth, who experienced some solid worldwide success during the 2000s before disbanding unexpectedly in 2008. They were also one of the pioneers of the current ‘djent’ movement (Periphery, Tesseract, Animals as Leaders etc), which is riding the crest of a wave at the moment.
The new band Aliases have backed off a little on that quirk factor (although they still certainly have their own unique charm about them), and injected a little more rocket fuel into their sound. As much as I dug Sikth, this is definitely for the better. Safer Than Reality is an absolute monster, bristling with intensity, and of course with the instrumental dexterity to ram the message home like a fist to the face. It will certainly appeal to fans of Sikth, as well as djent and progressive metal fans in general, it just gets to the point a lot quicker than that band did.
It’s pretty obvious that the focus for Aliases was to write shorter, more impactful songs and cramming in as many notes, insane rhythms and musical ideas as humanly possible whilst retaining cohesiveness in the tunes. And in this they’ve succeeded magnificently. The music packs an incredible wallop and the songs stick in your head for long moments after. These boys prove straight off the bat that they can play their arses off and write insanely catchy tunes at the same time.
And in Jay Berast they have unearthed a remarkable talent in the vocal department. He alternatively howls like a lunatic in an insane asylum and sooths the ear with his melodic crooning. And does both with incredible aplomb.
My only beef is that at eight relatively brief tracks and under 30 minutes of music it’s over way too quickly. But it’s all about the killer and not about the filler on this album, it’s all quality.
These guys are the hot new kid on the heavy metal block, Pin notwithstanding, but with the songwriting and musical chops to back it up to the blazes. Safer than Reality will make a strong push for this writer’s album of the year for 2011. Give it a few spins and it will blow your mind, as it has blown mine.
