Every fortnight, we check in with all things heavy on RTRFM’s Critical Mass show.
Statues’ dedication and commitment to the grind shines through on their debut album Together We’re Alone. Years of grinding through self-funded touring, sleeping on floors and couches, rehearsals, juggling real life commitments and a relentless physical live show has seen the guys blossom from the promising early days of their first EP A Human Work to the ferocious sound of today.
2011’s 7? Wait For Calm showed a band interested in going into deeper waters with the more epic-ly tinged “Stay” while 2013 single “Affliction Prescription” (included on this release) upped the ante.
On first listen to their chaotic brand of awesomely gnarly, metallic tinged hardcore, one can hear some quite obvious nods to Refused (Jayme Van Keulen’s furious barely contained rage vocal style) and The Dillinger Escape Plan (trebly riffage aplenty). Digging a little deeper reveals influences as diverse as Neurosis (pounding drums), Between the Buried and Me and perhaps a tiny bit of Faith No More. But make no mistake, this sound is completely their own and the tiny nods to other bands are just that.
Where a band like Refused toyed with some electronic tinged elements on The Shape Of Punk To Come, Statues are content to explore the traditional drums/guitars/vocals structure and it works incredibly well. Some excellent riffs and more melodic elements come into play on “Forseeing The Cloud And Not The Rain”. The vocal-only “I Want Peace” in the middle of the album is a nice breather after the aforementioned “Affliction Prescription” and is a nod to the band’s early blues influence at the start of their career, also backed up by the greasy slide guitar of “Hope Is”.
Statues recently added a second guitarist which means all hell is gonna break loose on stage, opening up a whole new window for newer songs too. I can’t wait to see what they can do with this new lineup.
If last year’s Voyager album (with whom Statues share a member) was marked by songs to sing at huge Eurpoean festivals, Together We’re Alone is full of songs to scream along to in crowded clubs, dodging guitar headstocks.
Critical Mass airs every Wednesday from 9PM (GMT+8) on RTR FM 92.1 in Perth, Australia.
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