Goes Cube: Another Day Has Passed
Goes Cube: Another Day Has Passed
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Thursday, 09, Jul 2009 09:04
The End Records, out now.
In a nutshell...
Loud, intense New York rock.
What's it all about?
A 13-song full-on metal assault courtesy of New York City's Goes Cube, with Dean Baltulonis, whose previous work includes Sick of it All and Freya, twindling knobs behind the production desk..
Who's it by?
Formed in 2003, Goes Cube are a Brooklyn three-piece with several EPs to their name, but this is their debut full-length recording. Having originally consisted of guitarist and vocalist David Obuchowski, bass player Matthew Frey and a drum machine, a full-time sticksman - Kenny Appell - was added in 2005, before Frey left earlier this year, being replaced by former journalist Matt Tyson.
As an example...
"I dreamed of you, I often do, and we walked by, our little house." - Restore
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
Rather slim, I'm afraid. Unless the Academy adds an award for downright anger, Goes Cube may have to make do with the plaudits they have been receiving from an ever-growing fanbase, not that they'll mind, I'm sure.
Having said that, they could sneak into the best metal performance category, but with big-hitter winners such as Metallica, Slipknot and Slayer scooping the prize in recent years, maybe it'll be a few more years before Goes Cube will be writing up their acceptance speech.
What the others say
"They bludgeoned our eardrums - and our hearts - with their epic Fugazi feel, machine gun double-bass assault and monumental larynx-shredding vocals. Goes Cube just may have become our favourite underground locals." - Stereogum
"Their violent stamina is somehow tempered by studio process. There's still enough raw aggression on the likes of Back To Basics to make you want to punch yourself in the face once or twice, but all-out headwrecking is kept on hold." - Alex Hoban, NME
So is it any good?
When a band's promotional blurb is littered with words such as 'intense', 'brutal' and 'unrelenting bass', they'd better deliver a full-on metal assault to the eardrums, otherwise they'd come off looking rather foolish indeed.
Thankfully, New York City three-piece Goes Cube do exactly that with a face-melting collection of riffs which have been welded onto water-tight drumwork, screaming vocals and uh... unrelenting bass.
Album opener Bluest Sky rips out of the speaker at blistering pace, but these boys are far from purely speed metal-noise merchants. They pepper their songs with intricate guitar licks which make it all the more unbelievable that this is just a three-piece making the almighty sound on display. Bluest Sky blends into Grinding the Knife Blade effortlessly, even if the latter emits a share of pop sensibilities that the opener would have presumably bludgeoned to death with a BC Rich had they came within a million miles of it.
Restore takes a different approach with a verse and bass-run which wouldn't have been out of place coming from Pinkerton-era Weezer, before the chorus ramps things back up to 11 with more bone-crushing riffage. The Only Daughter keeps the heaviness intact; however, it is layered around a pop-punk-esque melodic chorus, once again showing that these boys have plenty in their lockers and are no one-trick ponies.
After a superb opening four-song blitz, unfortunately the quality does sag a little. I Hold Grudges is screamo-by-numbers, while Goes Cube Song 30 is as insipid as its title suggests.
However, crammed between these two stinkers is a hook-laden hit in the making in the form of Saab Sonnet. Its pop-punk fuelled melody is combined with a repetitive vocal line that's tailor-made to be chanted by thousands of fans at a festival and a crunching guitar section more befitting the rest of the album's sound in that it would melt the faces of 300 fans packed into a sweat-drenched club.
Normal service is resumed through the tail-end of the album, with the suitably intense, riff-filled Clenching Jaws providing a particular highlight. The epic title track, which has almost a Deftones feel to it at times, rounds things off as a debut that has all of the anger and intensity that the promotional team promised comes to a close.
7/10
Richard Chamberlain