A.Lostfield | ‘Internal Affairs’

Truly experiemental metal is a bit thin on the ground lately. There certainly isn’t the glut of it that there was even a few years ago. So it’s heartening to see this band from the metallically remote Bogotá making up for it in earnest.

A.Lostfield have a lot of ideas - too many, to be honest. Every song here tries its utmost to cram as much as possible into every phrase that it ends up sounding all over the shop. It’s a shop that sells initially strange trinkets that you really you dont need. I’m sure there’s one in your town.

The biggest gripe to be had with this ‘un isnt so much their scattergun approach to composition. That’s just about bearable under the brainy-metal rubric. It’s the vocals - they’re just not that good.

The band are decent instrumentalists, and while the playing’s complex and involved, you couldn’t acuse it of being flouncy. So there’s definitely promise.

There are even elements of Opeth here and there when they drag out the inevitable acoustics, and perhaps even a nod toward the guys Opeth hero worshipped for a few years there: Porcupine Tree.

They’ve a long way to go however before earning the prestige of either. They look and sound like they’ve spent too long in the studio. A few good gigs in front of rabid Bogotá falses-killing audiences would bring them up to speed I’m quite sure.

2.4 / 5 - Earl Grey ::: 29/06/10