Carcosa - What Happens Under Neon

Carcosa

What Happens Under Neon
self-released; 2016

3.6 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

Matthew Hoffman (vocals), Vance Manu (guitar), Alistair Hewton (bass) and Jordan Cossill (drums) are Carcosa. Imagine a band that sounds similar to Alice In Chains and Queens of The Stone Age with both metal and post-rock tendencies and you have a sound that resembles the songs on What Happens Under Neon.

What Happens Under Neon contains three relatively lengthy songs that take their time exploring the sonic possibilities of the band. The arguable highlight is the opener the intense “Soured.” Hoffman reminded me of Josh Homme as the guitar moves through ultra light speed piercing a myriad of notes. The band explores a lot of possibilities within the first two minutes. My attention was drawn to where they would go next. Once they are around the five-minute mark the band gets sludgy and heavy but eventually finds a way out of the swamp. The song closes on a crescendo.

“Wastrel” while not as engaging as the first track still had some inspired moments such as right after the five-minute mark. The majority of the song relies on a primary heavy riff and vocals that this time sounded more like Layne Staley.

They close with the blistering title track, which is a high-octane thriller that tears it up. Guitar bends break at the seams while machine gun like snare work backs you into a corner. Once again the five-minute mark seems to be the most prolific. This time around the band breaks it down only to build it back it up into an epic crescendo. 

​For fans of good metal this EP is a no brainer. Carcosa brings the goods and the EP has very  minor mishaps. Looking forward to what this band will be doing in the future. 

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