Pulo Revé – ‘É’ [Review]
To spot a great band in the darkest depths of the underground, start by asking yourself the following questions:
1) Are they recycling the same old tired clichés?
2) Can you hear their influences?
2a) If so, do those influences flow into each other and blend well?
3) Do they sound like they mean it?
4) Does the production job do the music justice?
The answers you’re looking for are:
1) No;
2) I don’t care, because this is badass!;
2a) Yes;
3) Yes;
4) Hell yes.
É‘s Introductory Blues passes this test effortlessly. Acoustic guitar fiddliness in the vein of Candyrat Records gives way to Enter Shikari-style vocalisations, a buildup into a fat Shikari-style heavy section, a lengthy segue into bouncy acoustic strumming, and distant drums that bring to mind The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Black Bubblegum…
…and Pulo Revé reveal themselves.
Looking Up, Or Around And In sits somewhere between Shikari, DEP, Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails, and TesseracT. The middle point of a densely-packed pentagon, in more jaw-clenchingly pretentious words – and trust me, it’s a good place to be. This is one of the most ear-opening experiences a metal fan could have right now, all in a single song.
Fucking hell.
A few seconds of jazzy finger-popping separate the above from Ahead at 6:06, by which time influence-spotting may as well be abandoned on the first listen, because it’s just pointlessly distracting. Pulo Revé have clearly poured a shit-ton of time, effort, passion and pure energy into this album, and it deserves just as much undivided attention in return.
Crucial Fix is a blasphemously intense sequence of titanium-spike riffs and cathartic vocals dropped in tightly-measured holes. A spot of jungle percussion and birdsong, and Pretty provides lilting classical guitars à la Metallica backed up by rubber-band basslines and topped off with plaintive and mournful vocals…before the kind of bouncy-abusive tangent Between The Buried And Me have never been averse to closes things off. Of All The Bodies In All The World, meanwhile, sounds like a British version of Gym Class Heroes on a blue meth bender.
As you, the deeply intelligent reader, have no doubt figured out by now, Pulo Revé are not very predictable at all. And There Lies His is another stick in the spokes of future-seeing, a spiky mathcore jaunt that comes close to DEP territory without falling into the Pit of Plagiarism; Above At 5:05 starts off sounding like a cybernetic Joe Satriani and ends like a Korn track, with plenty of uncategorizable insanity in between; and Beautiful salutes DEP’s 43% Burnt and Shikari’s mind-expanding expansiveness / penchant for poppy-but-defiantly-non-mainstream hooks. Live Long And Last will prove a favourite for those who favour post-rock vibes, At The Drive-In / The Mars Volta’s flat-out-fucked mindsets, and Coheed And Cambria’s quirkiness; Another Blues gets gorgeously weird, reminding us that normal is boring; and closing track Out signs off with lilting acoustics, spacious drums, and a brilliant build into champing-at-the-bit post-hardcore.
Overall, although Pulo Revé clearly love them some DEP and Enter Shikari, this album is more than the sum of a pair of parts. It’s the kind of melting pot that fits in perfectly on TMMP – and, honestly, is an experience you will not have while listening to any other band. A rare and perfectly executed flawless victory.
TMMP RATING: 94% (Essential Listening!)
Links
É drops on September 22. For updates, check out Pulo Revé’s official website.
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