SHILTON, EARL „Two rooms (full of insects)”

I had heard a lot about this and was excited when I was sent it to review. Earl Shilton was for the recording of this album, a one man project – Alex Thomas. He was responsible for the drumming on the legendary Bolt Throwers “Mercenary” album and was also a member of Groop Dogdrill. He plays all instruments on this album and shows himself as a versatile musician, but is it any good? Well, not really.

For starters, the production is weak and the sound of the drums varies from song to song. I was expecting him to show off his drum skills on this album, but he just goes through the motions. Try Deeds of Flesh or Opeth for innovative drumming. If you didn't know he was first and foremost a drummer, you wouldn't guess it from listening to this. It would be nice to be able to hear the double bass drumming, but it seems to get lost amongst the guitars.

As for the songs themselves, they aren't given the chance to go anywhere before they either stop or veer off into new territory. I have read of people comparing this to Nile, but I don't know what they were listening to or smoking when they wrote that. Heavy doesn't always mean good. The guitars are clear but the riffs are nothing new. As I've mentioned before the main problem is that the songs don't go anywhere. As a listener, you feel frustrated, because you pick up on a riff only to have it ripped from underneath you and replaced by something that sounds out of place.

What are the vocals about? They are so low and heavily distorted that there seems little point inserting them at all. If you're a fan of Bolt Thrower, you might get something out of this, but if you're expecting high quality metal, look elsewhere. I love death metal, but this really didn't float my boat.

RUNNING TIME: 37.29