I have come across all kinds of reviews online, and while most of them are pretty decent, some people still surprise me with the unprofessionalism despite being a writer for a very popular big music website
Anyway this was really nice so I wanted to mention it up here.
Charming Timur – A Brief Moment Of Existence – Album Review
Ummm…ok…watch your volumes on this one…starting Charming Timur’s new album A Brief Moment Of Existence off
as loudly as you were playing that last jam you heard from whatever
band might just spike your heart rate through the roof – or make you
wish you were wearing your brown pants! So be careful with those
speakers – there’s no easing into this album; Charming Timur is here to
fill every inch between your walls with a sound onslaught!
No
joke – from moment one, this one-man unit from Helsinki is throwing
more at you than most bands can in their combined efforts. As a guy
that personally NEEDS a ton of sounds coming at me every once in a while
– opening tracks “OCD,” “Falling Down,” and “Cut You Open” greatly
satisfied this hole that is often wide-open in my never-ending list of
indie-music to listen to.
As noted in our latest interview with a similar artist – Chris Romans of The Last Surrealist (Also
a solo-act) – it can often be extremely difficult to get that word
spread, or the message in the music out when presented in such an
in-your-face style. That being said – there’s certainly awaiting ears
for this style of Nu-Metal…and I definitely found a ton of this album to
be extremely interesting to listen to on a production-level. The
dynamics of the album are fantastic…a shift you can hear nearly mid-way
through the third track “Cut You Open,” and then certainly into the
following track “My Pain.” Musically, it all becomes a little less
frantic, which leads to the strength in clarity as Charming Timur
highlights parts of the instrumentation through the excellent use of the
loud/quiet combo. “My Pain,” is often just as brilliant when
everything cuts out & slows down, leaving just basic bass and drums,
as it is when firing on all cylinders.
As a quick side-note for our readers & followers…if you dig on sounds we’ve brought you in the past from Fey, Sky As Skin, or even Closer – Charming Timur is DEFINITELY an act you want to check into…
According
to what I can find online…aside from a “mysterious man” who “played
some drums and rhythm guitar” on “All The Same” – everything you’ll hear
on A Brief Moment Of Existence is
created, produced and put together by Lauri Santeri Lohi. Credit truly
needs to be given here, in the songwriting department, even if it’s not
the style of music you might normally dig on. You can clearly hear
just how much effort would have been necessary to not only come up with
and create these enormous sounds – but to fit them all in as clearly as
Lauri has here is a true achievement in indie production. It’s rare to
find an indie album that can match up equally in concept and production,
but I believe we have one here.
“Broken
Personality” is a complete monster! LOVE it. Such an excellent
contrast of bright and beautiful guitars against the swaying vocals, and
then against the ultimate burst of sound as it all comes together.
Lauri is beyond phenomenal in what he can put out for sound through the
vocals. If you need a lesson on how to get your screams across clearly,
this would be an excellent place to start.
Like…for
real…I imagine the ‘clean-up’ duty of a recording session with Charming
Timur has got to include sweeping up little chunks of Lauri’s lungs
from the floor. It’s literally like the very inside of him is making
its way out to join you on each and every track!
In
a clever combination thematically, tracks “Ego Machine” and “Center Of
The Universe” work extremely well together as a set occurring in the
second half of the album. Again, I’m a huge fan of sound-collages and I
love singers and vocalists that aren’t afraid to take chances on a
heavy effect to style their sound overall, or simply on a single track.
Opposite to many of my peers, perhaps stemming from my own experience
with vocals – I really believe it takes just as much courage to dirty-up
or change your natural sound. People talk about ‘relying’ on effects…I
mean, c’mon…if you’re only experimenting with your ‘natural’ sound –
you’re ‘relying’ on only one quality. “Our Day Is Beautiful (The
Obsession Song)” is another massive example of his ability to reach out,
expand and create new sounds. Experimentation like this…using the
vocals as a virtual instrument in the music is an approach I’ll always
appreciate – big thumbs up to Lauri here for these moves.
As
it closes on the final track “Nostalgia” – a slower version or similar
feeling as “Broken Personality” – you can really get the closure you
need and realize what a satisfying listen this was. It’s fuckin MEATY –
and cooked just right all the way through. The album has pain…it has
emotion…and whichever way these songs have come out, distorted,
effect-laden, or straight-ahead – they reflect those feelings stored
within Lauri that have been caged up and waiting to come raging out in
full control.
But
what makes the album and songs as great as they are – is that
production aspect and how nailed tight it all is. It’s through that
precision that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that as chaotic and
lashing as the music can be – through Charming Timur Lauri has found a
way to channel that angst into something artistic on A Brief Moment Of Existence.
However brief – after listening…you can only hope that at the very least there’ll be more of them to come in the future.
- Jer @ SBS
Check out the album for yourself at: http://charmingtimur.bandcamp.com/
Find more excellent indie-artists both locally and from around the globe at http://www.sleepingbagstudios.ca
