Tribazik - All Blood Is Red
Eastworld Recordings
Experimental/Industrial Rock
10 songs (53:16)
Release year: 2009
Tribazik, Eastworld Recordings
Reviewed by Goat

It’s rare that you come across something that can’t be summed up as ‘x meets y’ and this is the case with Tribazik, an English band formed in 2004 that are almost exactly a mixture of Killing Joke and Soulfly, the post-Punk experimentalism of the former and the world music vibes of the latter. Having recently spend two European tours supporting the former, and with the unmistakable vocals of Jaz Coleman appearing on a track here, it would appear that the tribute is appreciated, but it’s hard not to immediately think of the veteran band whilst listening to All Blood Is Red, even though the basic musical formula is a bit different; the main difference being the greater Groove/Indutrial influence clear in the riffing.

You’d have to be quite the basement-dweller to make comparisons between this and Nu-Metal, but if you absolutely detest the early Soulfly sound then you’re going to have problems with moments like Small Are We, ethnic elements mixing freely with the bouncy rhythms and tribal drumming. It’s undeniably catchy stuff, more Rock than Metal overall (much more Muse than Meshuggah) although it can be heavy at moments and I’d imagine them to be pretty crushing live. There are touches of Dub here and there, Smokescreen’s quieter moments especially, yet overall the music is driven more by the bass and drums than the guitar – concentrating on the guitar is actually a good way to get bored quickly, as there’s not much variation in riffs. Molten, the song featuring Jaz Coleman, is the album highlight, his gruff roar adding a real intensity to proceedings and contrasting nicely with the otherwise laid-back track.

The way to approach this album is to listen to the music as a whole and enjoy it for what it could well be: the soundtrack to a political rally – Paralyser in particular takes the rabid energy of Ministry and channels it into a more danceable form. From questioning the cause of the collapse of the Twin Towers on Freefall to environmental concern on As If, this is a rant set to music. Overall, it’s not nearly as exciting a listen as Killing Joke’s last album, and countrymen October File do the same thing but heavier and more exciting, and whilst album closer Speak Through Us approaches more psychedelic terrain, the fact that all in all it’s over eighteen minutes long, the latter three-quarters of the track a rather dull ambient piece doesn’t say much for the album’s replayability. All Blood Is Red is hardly bad, but it’s not as exciting as it thinks it is.

MySpace
Killing Songs :
Small Are We, Molten, Paralyser
Goat quoted 60 / 100
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