Label : Toxic Forest Records
Review By Tony Cannella
NoXiuS Corp. hail from Spain and have just released their impressive 5-song debut EP, “Grey Shades”. Their musical style lies in the territory of Gothic, technical Death Metal with touches of an Industrial sound popping up here-and-there, and even a bit of progressive to add a little bit of atmosphere to the songs. The music contained on “Grey Shades” is above all else, heavy and – at times – brutal. The band are fronted by the semi-operatic and enchanting vocals of Laura Espejo, who works well in conjunction with the brutal, more death metal vocal style of male singer Lord Dan (who also plays bass on the CD).The CD kicks off with the cool opening title track and right away you can’t help but be impressed with the power of NoXiuS Corp. and the ability of the band to play harsh, death metal style music while still injecting some brilliant melodic moments. The classy vocals of Laura Espejo definitely sets the band apart from other bands of this style. “Screaming Silently” is next and is probably the most melodic track on the CD, with Laura handling the bulk of the vocal duties on this one and she proves what a talented singer she really is. Taking nothing a way from the rest of the songs on the CD, I would have to rate this as my favorite. The guitar work courtesy of Jordi Monfulleda is quite good as well and the song packs just a powerful riff throughout the duration of it’s almost 6-minutes. Just a great overall track that has plenty of melody and power to it. They follow that up with the brutally heavy “I Hate the World”, and you can bet with a title like that it IS going to be heavy. Just a cool, relentless riff dominates this song and the vocal work between the two different styles is on full display here. The final two songs are listed as bonus tracks and they are “Grey Shades” (EBM remix) which is a more up-tempo version of the title song and a different spin on it. The final song is “Entre Las Sombres” which ends things on a suitably heavy note. With “Grey Shades” NoXiuS Corp. have produced a very solid sounding EP and it should – hopefully – create a buzz and enthusiasm surrounding their full-length debut, which hopefully we won’t have to wait long for. The songs are diverse, technical and intricately played. A thoroughly enjoyable 25-minutes worth of music from this promising Spanish band.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- Grey Shades
- Screaming Silently
- I Hate the World
- Grey Shades (EBM Remix – Bonus Track )
- Entre las Sombras (Bonus Track)
Line Up
- Laura Espejo – Vocals
- Jordi Monfulleda – Guitar
- Lord Dan – Bass, Vocals, Programming
- Luka “Kai” Gomez – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Twitter * Site