Closer Than Kin is one of the most amazing Hardcore / Metalcore bands around. Their 2003 opus, “The Machineries Of Breath” [Punktuation/Arctic Music], is one of the best releases of the year. Combining elements of Gothic and Metalcore, Closer Than Kin has created a work that is both vibrant and dark–brutal and sublime.
The Closer Than Kin sound has a truly savage beauty. Goth darkness flows through the Metalcore aggression like an ether. Softly it passes through the stentorian guitar roar, shrill and guttural growled vocals (along with some clean ones as well), and blasting rhythms. Closer Than Kin is furious, fierce, and as flawless as the night.
The greatest of these epic cuts includes the melancholic roar of “When Toys Are Traded For Tears,” “The Euphoria Of Strangulation,” “Dead Flowers For A Dying Lover,” the acoustic sorrow and brutal return of “14 Scars,” “If Demons Could Weep,” and the intense poetic of “The Decay Of Autumn.” It's Hardcore, it's Gothic, it's Metalcore–Closer Than Kin surpasses the pack in both quality and aggression. That's why this opus really shine. Glory doesn't come easy.
Overall, this is a great achievement for Closer Than Kin as well as one of the BEST RELEASES OF 2003. This album is a true epic of brutal beauty. So, get dark. Stay savage. Farewell.
Related Bands: Atreyu, Hatebreed, Earth Crisis, Hoods, Bloodlet, Overcast, Dim Mak, Turmoil, God Forbid, Acid Bath, Scar Culture, Dead To Fall, Haste, Darkest Hour, Lungbrush, Nothingface, etc.
Keep the faith, and the AGGRESSION. Peace.
Bill Vogel III
Email at: StrangeAeons@hatebox.net
Copyright 2003.
Courtesy of Stranger Aeons Magazine.
