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Dallas, Texas' modern rock quintet Fair To Midland is
whetting audiences' appetites with their four song EP The Drawn
And Quartered, released by System Of A Down's lead
singer Serj Tankian's label Serjical Strike. There is a
seriousness in Fair To Midland's songs that crosses paths with
heavy metal bands like Opeth and Machine Head, but
there is also a prog-rock gravity in the piano overtones doddering
alongside modern rock theatrics that corresponds to artists like
Evanescence, 30 Seconds To Mars, and Flyleaf.
The EP walks the line between modern hard rock and heavy metal
and accomplishes its task of whetting peoples' appetites for wanting
more from Fair To Midland.
The first two tracks, "Orphan Anthem '86" and "Kyla
Cries Cologne" are produced by Mitch Lerner and show
the band's wings for prog-rock altitudes with tunneling jet streams
of guitar shreds and seething foliages of repeating rhythms. The
vocals resonate and scream alternately as the gravity in the music
notes reach demonic proportions. There is so much going on in
these melodic phrases that each chord series has its own dimensions
and character, and yet, when everything comes together it forms
one cohesive paradigm. Each song has a lot going on in its page,
yet, the album sticks to telling one concentric story. "Kyla
Cries Cologne" maintains ballistic guitar shreds reciprocating
the high toned piano jitters as the heat from the clinching vocals
set the melodic lines ablaze. There is so much seriousness in
the vocal registers and music paragraphs that it draws the listener
into its recessed coves.
The final two tracks are done live, "A Seafarer's Knot"
and "Abigail." These numbers corroborate gingerly latticed
piano undertones with funnels of dramatic spires in the rhythm
sections. "A Seafarer's Knot" is fringed by segments
of careening pick slides and echoing bell chimes which add to
the song's intensity. The classic piano quavers and low-keyed
guitar vibrations continue on "Abigail" while smoky
vocal rings hover over the modern hard rock phrases. The lyrical
content is as intense as the music using symbolism to portray
the scenes in the songs like in "Kyla Cries Cologne",
with images like "Bound by the salt not your earth"
and "The hat mocks the rabbit while the bee stings the shark."
The lyrics have a personal meaning and are open to individual
interpretation based on the listener's own translation of these
images.
The Drawn And The Quartered's executive producer Serj
Tankian is banking on a band whose passion shows in the gravity
of their musical notes. Band members Darroh Sudderth (vocals),
Cliff Campbell (guitar), Jon Dicken (bass), Matt
Langley (keyboards, piano), and Brett Stowers (drums)
have put together a sample of what they have to offer in their
music with The Drawn And Quartered, and it's enough to
pique audiences' interest in wanting to hear more from them.
-Susan Frances
Track listing:
1. Orphan Anthem '86
2. Kyla Cries Cologne
3. A Seafarer's Knot
4. Abigail
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