Music is like a friendship of instruments and their sounds with their different tones combining towards the common goal of kicking some auditory ass. The split EP from Reaver and Acrolysis does just that. They combine the guttural wrench of the guitar axe of Acrolysis and blast of metal mayhem from Reaver to blend two different styles of music into a cohesive unit. The song, “A message to you” on the album are due to Acrolysis alone, “The Nobody Crowd” & “Visions” being a shared creation, and Reaver takes creds on “Broken Smoker” with Konstantine lending some vocals to it.
Acrolysis is a three-piece band out of Sydney, Australia that portrays a modern-day grungy musical edge. Made up of Konstantine (vocals, guitar), Mytal (bass) and Amit (drums) the three musicians become a power chord. If Gojira and Mastodon had a collaboration with Parkway Drive you’d have another value-added member to the tour. Then lending a frontman to the cast we have Sydney-based Reaver made up of Zac Marshall (Vocals), Daniel McGregor (Guitar), Phil McDermott (Drums), and Konstantine Ana (Bass).
Bringing dropped tuned guitars to the pit Acrolysis crank out some deep banging stoner rock. Bass and guitar bounce off one another so as to compliment the other. If you see them live then you how well the chemistry works between them creating a balanced act on stage. The drums pack a punch from behind filling in and supporting the song with different approaches allowing the guitars to progress upfront through their repertoire. Rather than acting like glue to hold it all the drums shine as their own piece of art as well. Reaver comes in with some thrashy rock elements on “Broken Smoker” to elevate the pace while still keeping a melodic outfit with some tight musicianship to sew it all together.
Konstantine’s vocals carry a rhythmic style that fits in well with the tone and pace of the music. Backed by Zac’s slightly shrill and higher-pitched vocal style you have a complementary duo. Zac has more aggressive guttural tone. ‘Visions’ probably carries a mix of vocal styles that perhaps are more hardcore than some of the other tracks. This is good to see a variation within the style and you will carry from the song what you will.
Acrolysis rhythm guitar parts grind through catchy melodies that have a relatively deep guitar sound. The tone is sonorous yet provides a certain comfort to the listener. Harmonics flitter about the songs like fireflies. Konstantine then whips through some solos with furious force. ‘A message to you’ is a song to look out for all of this. ‘Broken Smoker’ kicks in with a variety of different riffs that venture into the stoner rock world and glance into the window of blues-rock in a way that will launch your day. It’s great to hear the vocal styles coalesce on the album.
The artwork of the album shows an almost disturbing scene of faceless people rocking out in front of the big city of Sydney. Perhaps it’s a way of showing that within a system controlled by powers that don’t have our interests at heart there are plenty of people just like you who have a like-minded passion supporting things from by your side without you knowing who they all are. But they are there and that’s what counts so keep fighting for what you want.
These bands carry promise. Having only been in existence for a few years collectively they have the potential to tap into the metal market. Some of the best bands in the world are incomparable to others and so these guys are trying to make their way to becoming this.
Release Year: 2020
Label: self-released
Category: Split EP
Country: Australia
Reviewed by Byron Lotz
