Unusual name but not so unusual sounding
House Of Thumbs are relatively unknown but came together out of the ashes of two Melbourne (Australia) metal bands Isolar and Leechseed. Vocalist Linden Audino, guitarists Nick Lord and Jake Mormile, bassist Nick Rackham and drummer Tom Rossell are putting their own take on chaotic metal in the form of their debut EP, Strangle Fiction.
The instantly angular attack of Killbot makes me think of the chaos of a bastard mix of Slipknot and fellow Melbournians Five Star Prison Cell but with more core like vocals as opposed to Glynn's Patton-esque approach. The group refines their aural chaos with the more musically melodic yet still aggressive Corticoal Offset which is still jarring enough at times to keep the momentum going. Things literally swing into life with The Construct Nameless and although it's more of the same from House Of Thumbs, at the same time, it's not. There is a clear definition within each of the songs here enabling them to steer clear of any one dimensional monotony. There is a monumental amount of change ups throughout The Construct Nameless making it anything but boring and one of the EPs high points, another being the brutal stop start nature of the short but sweet Centipede. Tempus, the final track on this short teaser of an EP, is a solid finale that delivers a variety of tempos and some clean vocals to boot, something that we hadn't seen to this point.
Short and sweet, Strangle Fiction is a tight release both playing wise and from a song writing point of view. The material is complex and varied but not overpowering either - it's easily digested and sounds top notch for a first EP. There's a mixture of Slipknot, Dillinger Escape Plan, perhaps some Meshuggah with some metalcore roots and somehow it works well. These guys could certainly be one to keep an eye on.
(Independent)
