East of the Wall – Ressentiment
As “Beasteater” comes to a dramatic conclusion, East of the Wall find themselves bearing the curse of having all the technical wizardry and finesse a musician could ask for, yet lack any sureness of direction within the songwriting presented in their second full length album, Ressentiment. I was always told as a child that one could have all the intelligence in the world but unless he or she mustered enough will to apply it; pure intelligence would get the individual nowhere. This analogy fits these five musicians perfectly, substituting the intelligence and will for musical proficiency and songwriting respectively. Ultimately, this deal-breaker is what shadows the entire album of its aura of promise.
As musicians, these five individuals out of Gunnison Beach, New Jersey, are more than comfortable with their instruments and dive into varying genres without warning during the course of the record. Most immediate of these diverse pieces would be the brief “It’s Always Worth Speaking to a Clever Man.” Over the course of a meager forty-seven seconds, the quintet present audio destined to be emitted lightly from the speakers within the nearest Holiday Inn. As if one was not perplexed enough, “Don’t Stop Bereaving” executes a complete one-eighty with earth-trembling guitars, forbidding percussion and an overall atmosphere found more likely at the tail-end of a jam at an Isis concert. Even within the standard songs presented, nothing is ever quite what it seems. “Ocean of Water” is a mysterious piece, complete with a distant and bleak melody, occasionally rearing a hideous, furious head equipped with spastic fretwork and merciless screaming. However, as soon as the mayhem appears – back to the sublime, indie material the piece goes. East of the Wall are quite frankly, ridiculously unpredictable.
Of course, the group’s twists and turns are most-likely the byproduct of once being a solely instrumental ensemble but as evidenced above, there is only so much trickery a listener can handle. Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Ressentiment is an incredibly difficult listen. At over an hour’s length, the carpet-pulling begins to become a little tiresome. From genres switching on a dime – which deserves praise for the quintet’s ambition – to navigating a track listing that routinely switches from shorter songs in the range of two to three minutes to extended pieces fluctuating from six to nine minutes, patience is an utmost requirement if a devoted listener is to complete such a taxing journey.
Pile on the rather disappointing screaming and after a while it becomes apparent that the reward is not worth the effort necessary on Ressentiment. If East of the Wall would omit the harsh vocals and continue the usage of singing instead – a major factor as to why “A Long Defeat” is one of the album’s few highlights – and focus their songwriting instead of relying on disjointed transitions and cheap genre flaunts, this band legitimately has a chance to accomplish wondrous feats. Until then, East of the Wall and their latest album, Ressentiment, will simply remind you of that outrageously smart peer in school who swears he’s smart, yet has absolutely nothing to show for it.
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19 Comments
August 19th, 2010 at 12:06 pm
just terrible music. damn.
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Eh, just very unfocused. I'm willing to give these guys another chance since this is their first album since making the switch from being an instrumental band to one that incorporates singing. Of course, they aren't going to hit gold on the first attempt. Let's see what their next release has to offer.
Thanks for checking the review out!
[Reply to this comment]
blah replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:19 pm
except its not their first attempt, essentially the same band has released almost 4+ albums worth of material, the majority of which has singing and screaming.
(1 proper album and 2 discs of unreleased material as the postman syndrome, a full length and EP as day without dawn)
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:36 pm
You know, that's great and all but I was responsible for reviewing East of the Wall's album. I could care less if these guys have performed in various other groups throughout their past. I was merely concerned with the output of this collection of musicians, in this identity and how it would translate. Their EP as East of the Wall was a purely instrumental affair, thus making this album with THIS lineup their first attempt at singing as East of the Wall.
We could sit back and split hairs all day over this, the fact of the matter is and remains that the music presented here is sub-par.
Thanks for the concern though.
[Reply to this comment]
August 19th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Seriously? This site gave Whitechapel's album a 5/5, and this fantastic work gets 1.5?
I just don't even.
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
The site is not representative of our individual tastes. If it makes you feel any better, I would've rated the Whitechapel album a very similar score to this album. I found the album to be rather unfocused and frustratingly constructed, making the album a very demanding listen that ultimately was not worth the effort. These guys are phenomenal musicians but very weak songwriters. Glad you like it though, reviews are merely opinions anyways – we all have one.
Thanks for the comment!
[Reply to this comment]
Alkahest replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 1:42 pm
I agree, the album was definitely hard to get into, but I found that the effort was worth it.
Oh well. haha
[Reply to this comment]
August 19th, 2010 at 12:56 pm
I can't believe I wasted my money on this shit. I want my $8 back East Of The Wall!!!!
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
We've all had regrettable purchases, I am afraid. I can't believe I once bought two Counting Crows albums on a whim. Never again. Either way, I can sympathize with you and I appreciate your interest in this review.
Rock on!
[Reply to this comment]
August 19th, 2010 at 2:00 pm
1.5? FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
[Reply to this comment]
Matt replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 5:02 pm
This shit sounds terrible. Like a damned train wreck.
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
There were some good parts but the poor material was much more plentiful.
[Reply to this comment]
mozil replied:
August 21st, 2010 at 6:42 am
well trainwreck is an awesome band
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 5:17 pm
mozil, care to elaborate?
[Reply to this comment]
mozil replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 5:42 pm
Well… I loved their debut which was an instrumental piece of music. Then i heard that they gonna add some vocals… I was suprised and confused a little when I heard Ressentiment for the first time… but after few spins I really liked it. Also I totally disagree with you about the vocals, harsh one's are lovely, cleans are the ones they should omit. Trip of an album ;]
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Sweet! Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah, I just don't know. I listened to this album a lot as I spent a couple weeks just listening over and over again trying to get the album to click, the harsh vocals to click, everything. Unfortunately, nothing really came from this and I realized it was a lost cause, not my cup of tea. But I am glad you like it and keep rocking! Thanks.
[Reply to this comment]
August 19th, 2010 at 10:44 pm
Most post-metal requires a lot of patience to get into because it takes a long time to comprehend the subtle melodies of the music. After listening to some of the previews and a couple of songs, I'm thinking that such is not the case with this album. I found the vocals obtrusive when trying to listen to the music. They need to find a bit more balance between the two and more cohesiveness in their songwriting.
[Reply to this comment]
Josh Velliquette replied:
August 19th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
Well said, charlie. I have to agree with you. Thanks for sharing!
[Reply to this comment]
November 27th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
technically this is the biclops album, it was finished before the merger with east of the wall, so comparisons to the first eotw record aren't really fair.
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