I was having a Rachel Stevens moment – or at least I was about to have a Rachel Stevens moment – when that sugar coated event was shattered by XMRV. All terpsichorean thoughts were banished by a sonic assault borne, remarkably, of intelligence rather than sheer volume.
It is true that this band – whose members hail from Scotland, Norway and Slovakia – aren’t exactly mainstream even for a quasi-metal band but that is good thing when you consider what passes for mainstream these days. It is also true that XMRV are a band who turn right when everybody else would turn left. In consequence, the songs on this album can seem conventional when viewed individually but, when the album is absorbed in its entirety, a more twisted path is evident. On its own, “Suicide Slide” would make for a nice slice of Scandinavian melodic rock and “Ut” follows in a similarly breathless vein. However, in a bizarre cross cultural shift worthy of Amanda Palmer, XMRV then throw the circus into “Carnival” before indulging in a bit of eighties hair rock with “Ja Vi Lo” that soon disintegrates into a maelstrom of discord before regaining its radio friendly composure.
If I had top pick one track out that summed up this band up then it would be “Teeth”. A song that mixes aggression, madness and demented energy into a vindaloo for the ears, it will undoubtedly lead the listener into a life of ketamine abuse. Ok, I’ll have to pick another track for only a few points behind was “Stay Hollow” with the appeal here being Dr Ruth’s psychotic vocal that alternately soothes and scares over the song's two minute running time.
Though the band claims to be based in Glasgow, they stand head and shoulders, both technically and artistically, above their geographic contemporaries and, whilst they may be brutal, they are far from artless. I think I’ll have to play “Disimmunized” again. And again.
Available from Bandcamp.