ALBUM REVIEW: Shame – Utopia
The word ‘experimental’ gets thrown around a lot in the more technical side of heavy music. Some acts might use the term to define themselves and their writing process, while in other cases the word can be used when the term ‘genre’ doesn’t seem appropriate. Taking their influence from a wide array, including (but not limited to) death metal, grindcore, doom metal, hardcore, progressive rock, jazz, and even at times what can be only described as ‘miscellaneous’, UTOPIA certainly tick this box. Formed during the height of the pandemic, UTOPIA‘s core line-up of John Bailey (guitar), Chris Reese (vocals) and Arran McSporran (bass) were joined by several members of the metal community. Now featuring a full-time line-up, the band have retained those core members and added Jay Walsh (drums) and Jimmy Wilson (guitar) to create the sonic spectacle of Shame.
Machiavelli, the opening track, is perhaps the best tolerance test for their style – they don’t ‘throw you in at the deep end’ as much as they spear you into it. The death metal and hardcore elements are what immediately grab the listener, but the track itself plays out in stages, breezing through discordant guitar work, various time signatures, and even a relaxing and eerie ambient interlude almost akin to whale sounds. The title-track Shame features many of the same elements (sans-whale sounds), but instead begins with some gentle melodies that become subtly more unsettling before the technical grind madness renews itself.
Surprises come thick and fast on Shame – some can be heard more subtly in the overall mix, while others seem to come out of nowhere and demand immediate attention. The opening for Sun Damage would likely lull anyone into a false sense of security with its jazzy-progressive guitar work, but even sections like this often come with a foreboding backdrop of strings or a general feeling of unease, which aren’t unearned at this stage in the record. This is also the case with the interlude on Withering Away And Laughing, one of the album’s singles. The intricate guitar and bass-led introduction on this track swiftly hands off to a now familiar chaos before some Joe Satriani-esque guitar work appears, dancing between pauses in the vocals.
Experimentation can and has taken many forms, but sometimes when you throw everything at the wall it just so happens that everything sticks. This seems to be the approach that UTOPIA take to crafting their albums – but what they choose to throw at that wall and the accuracy of their aim is what makes it work. Such a metaphor sounds reductive, and it would be hard to describe what UTOPIA have created on Shame without being somewhat reductive; the scale of what they accomplish is largely down to the talent and eclectic spirit of the musicians involved. The digestibility of such a wild combination may be at times difficult, but those up to the challenge will find themselves immersed in the rich and complex world of their creation.
Rating: 8/10
Shame is set for release on February 2nd via self-release.
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