posted 11/25/2005 (Fri) @ 06:54 pm
>>> Music Reviews
Emanuel - Soundtrack to a Headrush (2005)
Can I get an “Amen”?
- The Hey Man!
- Buy American Machines
- You Cannot Rape The Willing
- Make Tonight
- The Hotline
- Soundtrack To A Headrush
- Breathe Underwater
- The New Violence
- Xeroxicide
- Dislocated
If you’re familiar with this genre, you know there’s a literal ton of bands that claim to herald a “return to riff rock,” then end up sounding like pale rip-offs of In Flames. How appropriate, then, that Emanuel claim to do no such thing and yet do more for that assertion than truckloads of other screamo/metal outfits.
Emanuel’s music is punk metal of the caliber one would expect from Kurt Cobain taking a weekend to fully indulge in his Led Zeppelin fetish, or if someone dropped an anvil on Brad Nowell’s foot too many times and really pissed him off. The punk influence is still the band’s strongest element, but the screams and some of the rhythms shed light on a metal edge that cannot be denied. Lead vocalist Matt Breen possesses a throaty yelp that howls with sincerity while meshing perfectly with the meaty crunch guitar backdrop.
Breen is usually screaming his piece against fashionistas and the damnation of pop culture, like on the opening cut “Hey Man!” and my personal favorite, the social awareness anthem “Xeroxicide” with its full throttle rhythmic pound. The chorus breakdowns interrupt the song like heads rolling away from the guillotine, but conversely to that situation, “Xeroxicide” is one tune that will stick inside your head. Elsewhere, Breen croons this band’s amusing idea of a love ballad on the slow-grinding “Make Tonight,” like a Motown hit if Barry White were a punk that liked to sing about cunnilingus.
“Soundtrack to a Headrush” is quirky in the best ways and rocks all the way through. You’d be hard pressed to find many albums recorded under the flag of hard rock this year that come close to touching “Soundtrack.” Hey brother, put your best shoes on, grow your hair out long, and tell your sister her music sucks.
Tags: hard rock
