Music-Reviewer.com
May 2009 Music-Reviewer.com
Triptaka’s Second War
By Heather Gioia
Intern
Title Second War
Label Self Released
Rating 4 out of 10
Triptaka creates a 1970’s flash back, using an old school method of creating hybrid sounds. Triptaka combines of the sounds of metal, industrial and progressive rock in their first album release, Second War, creating a hit or miss mixture of sounds.
Second War opens with Suspended, a track that makes you want to get up and move. The electronic keyboard sound matches with the electric rhythmic guitar riffs to create a contagious rhythm. The chorus is a masterpiece of soft moving vocals and infectious rhythms.
Yet, the first four tracks all seem to fallow the same song layout and pattern leading each to fall victim to an infectious case of bad reputation. Lost and Leading experiments with a techno-industrial sound, while Second War tries-out and electronic-metal sound to nearly the same song.
Graeme Cornies, vocalist, has a soft, calm, monotone voice that matches best with the brutal sounds of Dave Kelly’s guitar riffs and James Chapple’s experimental keyboard rhythms. The synths provided by Chapple are rhythmically aggressive, yet when the unnatural sound of the drums makes it hard to truly enjoy the creative sound of Second War. Track four, Tamed, masters the relaxing, mind indulging sound of electronic rock. Which is followed by the soft calming beach sounds of Mother. With a smooth thick voice, Cornies relays painful vocals over the distorted yet real sounds of Chapple and the breath taking rhythmic passages.
Although the hybrid sound of Triptaka is not capturing through tracks one though five. Skip up to track six, Slowburn, because Triptaka finally embraces their true talents with and intense metal and industrial sound and attaching vocals radiating anger. Chapple finally proves to be an above average musician with a capturing solo as Kelly experiments with insane guitar riffs.
Picking up the pace after track six, Second War still falls short of an album that must be added to a collection. Triptaka seems to be attempting to find themselves and their sound in Second War (and achieved success with Slowburn). Give them a chance at a second album and conquering their sound and they may amount up to a band worthy of applause.
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