By Justin C. When we last checked in with Colosso, the band was essentially a one-man show, written and performed by Max Tomé with guest drumming from Dirk Verbeuren.
By Justin C.
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When we last checked in with Colosso, the band was essentially a one-man show, written and performed by Max Tomé with guest drumming from Dirk Verbeuren. For their new EP, Thallium, the band has become a four piece. The basic style is the same--a brand of metal that floats somewhere between avant garde death metal and technical death metal--but the sound has broadened with the addition of new personnel, retaining its fierceness but taking on a more organic sound.
The first three songs--"Quadrangular," "Orthogonal Path," and "Prime"--act as a three-part instrumental introduction. At first, I was a little surprised that the EP was so front-loaded with instrumental tracks, but on the other hand, Tomé is happy enough to let the instrumental parts of his songs shine through--as a matter of fact, he offered the whole first album as an instrumental-only download.. The music holds up just fine on its own. Of the three instrumentals on this EP, "Prime" is a real standout. It's moody, dark, and melodic, with a great bass line winding its way through.
"Ecosystem" is the first track with vocals, and it starts off like a proper punch in the face. I used the term "stabbing" in my review of the first album to describe some of the riffing, and that still applies here--they dive up and down the fretboard violently when they're not out-and-out stomping. The final two tracks, "Into Infinity" and "Minus Infinity," provide an epic closing. "Into Infinity" is a quiet, building lead-in, with a steady pulse on top of a deep drone, which then explodes into full roar for "Minus Infinity." "Minus Infinity" could be the soundtrack to a space-themed horror movie, with blasts of fury for all of the interstellar battles and a chiming guitar line floating above it like a distress signal from a drifting, broken ship.
Thallium shows quite a bit of growth for such a new band, but the band has evolved while managing to keep the core of what made Abrasive Peace so enjoyable.