At a little over 29 minutes this 12-song extravaganza weaves a textural symphony of sounds and feelings. First it will have you lulled into submission with almost ambient passages, then it will shake you awake with full on heavy skull pounding brutality. I liked this recording a lot and succumbed as it slowly seduced me into listening multiple times.
If I was to compare Illuminus to anyone I would obviously point to Tool, but in some ways, they are so much more, at times reminiscent of The Who, at times that early Killing Joke/early Shihad sound, a kind of powerful stabbing staccato full band attack.
The deciding factors for frequently listening were largely due to the lovely harmonic coupling of vocalist, writer, album designer, guitarist Aidan Otene Dickens and his wife Milla who as well as co-singing in parts, backing on others, also plays Keyboard to great effect.
The stand out track for me, which made me click the play button again and again, was undoubtedly Fade Away which has the band showing the full range of their abilities, but also has you singing along on the chorus straight away. This is the fifth song of the album, and it would also be my choice to push them into heavy rotation on any Rock station and I feel it would carry them onto many a larger stage.
The rhythm section works seamlessly and provide the means by which you will be bouncing around the room with your neck muscles working hard to keep your head attached. The guys responsible for this are Turin Howell on Drums with Bass and album mixing by Holden Schade.
Endless is an album with a lot of nice changes in tempo and dynamics which provide the necessary peaks and troughs to maintain attention and interest over many subsequent listenings.
Personally, I’d like to see them out on the road with the likes of Devilskin or Coridian and see what happens, if they can play live like this recording, they could well be arena fillers.
A big nod of appreciation must also go to the team at Killing Room Studios in Kingsland Auckland, with the amazing recording skills of Mathew Keller showing through as well as the Mastering talents of Landr.
Review written by Johnny Baxter
About the author JohnnyBSquid
When not playing in the two bands I am currently involved with (The Carradines and Liberated Squid) I can often be found at The Incubator Creative Hub of which I am founding member. At The Incubator I have a variety of roles including Photographer, Music Manager, Prop Maker, Writer, joiner and sometime Project Manager. I am also an Interviewer and contributor for ArtBOP, an online arts forum, as well as occasionally writing and providing photos for The Bay Of Plenty Times’s Vibe Magazine as well as other local publications.
