It would appear that heavy music genius Greg Puciato has ditched the creative industrial rock of 2020’s ‘Child Soldier…’ in favour of more experimental, alt-metal vibes influenced by the likes of Faith No More. Indeed, that certainly seems the case in ready-made festival anthem, ‘Reality Spiral’, following a resounding distortion-filled intro in the form of ‘In This Hell You’ll Find Yourself’. That raucous theme continues on with the epic riffs in ‘No More Lives To Go’, showcasing Puciato’s belting vocal better than anything else you’ve heard – quality guitar parts and progressive parts make this an excellent record standout.
Meanwhile, ‘Never Wanted That’ takes cues from the Chino Moreno school of powerful brooding melodies, and we are all here for it – easily the darkest turn on the record, and a nice call-back to the softer elements of Dillinger Escape Plan. ‘Lowered’, meanwhile is softer still, showcasing the epic emotional qualities within Greg’s voice, recalling the best elements of his post-punk project, The Black Queen. Code Orange’s Reba Meyers’ fantastic deep notes compliment this one perfectly, another strong highlight.
‘We’ continues the goth-tinged post-punk that we have come to expect from Puciato in recent years, a mild 808-centric pop tune that takes proper inspiration from the best 80s synthpop. Lovely stuff, again showing Puciato’s diversity and passion for absolute creativity when recording. ‘I, Eclipse’ again shows off Puciato’s love and admiration for the heavy alternative rock, and is my favourite track on the album as a whole – an evocative romp through all of Greg’s main genre influences. ‘Rainbows Underground’ has the best riffs on the whole album (serious ragers!), and final tune, ‘All Waves To Nothing’ continues to bring the heaviness with some Killer Be Killed/Mastadon intensity, pay close attention to the lyrics here, and feel it – I don’t really feel I’m meant for anywhere, I don’t really feel I came from anywhere – man.
Overall, I think this record is a much more in-depth look at Greg Puciato, the man, and what makes him tick. While I miss the modern industrial sounds of his previous work (personal preference), this will open the world up to just how diverse an artist he can be, if you didn’t get that already. Fans of aforementioned previous work (KBK, DEP) will doubtless find this more to their taste, and personally I’d be very excited to see this live and in living colour. This is an impassioned, painful and raw record, and as a listener you can feel it, like really….and that’s a great thing.
Favourite tracks: ‘Reality Spiral’, ‘I, Eclipse’
Words: Dom Smith
