On first listen it’s easy to dismiss The Long Awaited Seal Of Disapproval. If you gloss over it, give it a casual listen, it can sound rather samey. Nothing of significance might jump out at you. But on the second, third, fourth listen, if you really pay attention, you understand the small things that make this four song EP from Hull based technical hardcore band The Colour Line stick with you.
It’s the swaying chorus of ‘R.E.D.’, the unhinged Dillinger Escape Plan frenetics of the riffs in ‘The Streisand Effect’, and the bottled half-life of The Chariot exhaled in ‘E=MC Hammered’ that make you sit up and take notice. Those little things that make you pause ever so slightly when the record is on in the background and think “What have we here?”.
Despite the ‘we’re funny and putting puns in our song titles’ naming convention, which is a little tired in 2016, the content itself is quite strong. There’s a great balance of melody and aggression with the chorus in ‘R.E.D.’, with a riff that has strong echoes of The James Cleaver Quintet, which is easily the best track on offer.
‘Usama’s Bin Liners’ hits you like an electric shock in one arm and an adrenaline shot in the other, with the skill here being that it doesn’t drag itself out unnecessarily. You get everything you need from it – this controlled chaos, the visceral snap of the vocals and surge of power from the instrumentation, and then it’s done and out.
In fact, the whole EP finishes before you’ve even had chance to catch breath. That said, the main criticism is the length. Unfortunately, four songs don’t give you an appropriate understanding of what this band are capable of, and what else they’ve got in their locker.
Sure, they’ve demonstrated a range of influences, and can balance aggression and melody well, but like bands such as The Dillinger Escape Plan it takes a full-length to tell the real story of what this band is about.
We’ll wait until then to make our minds up completely about The Colour Line, but expectations have been set.
CHRIS ROBINSON