 I first came across TAAS thanks to my fellow reviewer Adam T-H. He alerted me to a band called Minus The Bear, not that great, but I found out from their website that they were formed from ex-members of math-metal legends Botch, and that some of the MTB-ers belong to a band called "These Arms Are Snakes". I thought what sort of pretentious wankers/acid-tripping stoners would call their band These Arms Are Snakes? I heard more of them on a compilation, and found out they weren't just pretentious wankers, they made bloody good music aswell.
Last year has seen some monumental underground progressive albums from the likes of ISIS, Neurosis and Pelican. It has also seen some great works from bands like the Blood Brothers, Explosions In The Sky and The Murder Of Rosa Luxemburg. This is somewhere between those two factions - a sound deeply rooted in highly technical doom-impending prog-metal, but with the math/hardcore tendencies of their former bands (Botch, Kill Sadie).
The band first burst onto the scene with the 'This Is Meant To Hurt You' EP, an explosive burst of energy which WAS probably meant to hurt us. If that was the bratty younger brother who has just got his hands on a few too many Sherbert Fountains, this is his more learned older cousin, who has learned discipline through years of dead-end jobs.
Highlights of this record include opener 'The Shit Sisters'. This is where you really hear the individual elements of the band - Steve Snere's almost nasal screamo voice, guitarist Ryan's mathematic precision, the "prog breakdown" and random bursts of noise that shouldn't go, but do...
The best track on the album is probably the 8 minute centrepiece 'Gadget Arms', a perfect drumbeat accompanied by earfucking sampler sounds and noises you never thought could be eked out of a guitar. Another great record of 2004 nobody got, but let's hope word spreads about TAAS in 2005, as they ready to cross to these shores alongside post-hardcore legends Planes Mistaken For Stars.
Ollie Connors |
| Coding: Darren Burrows