Concerning Trends

If Melbourne’s As A Rival consider their debut EP Reminder Designer to have set the bar, then follow-up Concerning Trends doesn’t so much raise it as grab it with both hands and swing it wildly in tooth-smashing fashion.

With their sophomore offering, the trio devour a smorgasbord of rock sub-genres before spitting them back out as a unique concoction with the finesse of contemporaries like Strangers, Paper Arms,and The Sinking Teeth.

Opener “Warm Gun’s” grunge-inclined guitar lines carve through some of the filthiest, meatiest bass this side of Queens Of The Stone Age, while the thunderous drum fills are the closest thing you’ll hear to a madman firing a machine gun into a cymbal factory.

The resonant vocal melodies are energetically delivered by frontman Pete Cerni, who conjures his nasally raspings from someplace between Billy Corgan and Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley.

The assault continues with “Self-Titled”, a frenetic foot-stomper whose Foo Fighters-style blending of major and minor scales is as haunting as it is uplifting; “Concerning Trends” then tears through five or six time signatures with guile rarely witnessed outside of Biffy Clyro concerts.

While “Arterial Warfare’s” subdued, prog-influenced moments grant respite from the ball-tearing onslaught, the overly-prominent violins unfortunately bury some inspired guitar riffs.

The adjournment is brief though, as “Monolyth” launches into an aural moshpit of early ‘00s punk and metallic hardcore.

If As A Rival can maintain the momentum set by Concerning Trends, they’re a big-name producer away from one hell of a debut album.

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