Merging complex riffs and arrangements with aggression and anthemic vocals, The Safety Fire hail from London and are ready to spread across the nation at an alarming rate. Already rated as one of the bands to watch for 2010, their debut ‘Sections EP‘ is being released in March exclusively on iTunes.
Ferocious in his execution, Sean McWeeney‘s vocals sway between the rantings of a madman and an ethereal beauty. His voice soars dynamically over the technically crazed, fast-paced riffs being poured out by Joaquin Ardiles and Derya Nagle, who utilise styles from right across the board. The intro from the title track is reminiscent of early Slipknot before turning into something a lot softer – it doesn’t stay that way for long. Most of the songs on here seem to be schizophrenic in nature, veering from brutally heavy to innocent and soft within a matter of seconds. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up with the pace of what you are being exposed to. ‘Sections’ also features a solo by Pin from Sikth, unfortunately though, it feels out of place when examining the rest of the track and, the album as a whole.
Meanwhile, ‘Sululary‘ takes a completely different turn. This one stands out from the rest of the disk, as an instrumental track. It’s almost a lullaby acting to soothe the aggression that dominated in the previous tune. It is an amazing piece of ambient guitar music. The slow echoing notes ring softly, encompassing pure non-verbal emotions. Completely mellow, and almost depressing, it almost feels like a great reflection upon the previous tracks. Midway through ‘Sululary‘ picks up the pace, yet in tone, it stays calm, and soft, preparing you for the tracks to come.
With many flashes of brilliance, even comparable to Tool, ‘Spoilage‘ is easily the best track on the album. The song feels like a journey, moving between different emotions and feelings. Thundering right out of the gate with some frenzied guitar, the track pushes forward into a gripping and anthemic chorus. Even on CD it sounds like it is ready to be played live in front of a stadium-sized crowd.
It’s easy to tell that each member of the band has mastered their instrument and that the group collectively have some fantastic ideas. Unfortunately, what they try to do sometimes, is pack too many ideas into each song, this leaves songs sound fragmented in places. Overall though, the ‘Sections EP’ is a positive body of work that readily justifies the band’s growing popularity.
For more information visit the official MySpace.
