Do you know the feeling when something becomes too
much of a good thing? Well, if you do, then you know what I've like every time
I've listened to 'Weight of Coronation'. If you take a short look just above
here, you'll see that we're clocking up at over 66 minutes. Three songs here
last more than 10 minutes. It's simply too much.
Yes, it may sound absurd that I'm complaining about getting value for money. But
the thing is that, eventhough these Spaniards are miles more interesting and
better than Neurosis ever were, they have the same intense and insisting
approach. Something like me can only endure that in smaller doses. My audio
perception quite simply starts blocking out the input.
That said, there are amazing things on this release. Sovereign makes more than
one nod to Alice In Chains (the slow version of AIC, mind you). Throats of Blood
comes like a sludgy-thrash relief in the middle of the album and thus offer a
surprise wake-up call. There are lots of good moments, but, and this is where I
feel a bit like Emperor Joseph II in the Mozart film 'Amadeus' when he tells Mozart off
with a 'there's simply...too many notes!' There's just too much sound here.
I'm probably just missing true genius here like Joseph, but so be it. I have to
live with that.
