Album Review: Parallel with the Sun by Cloned Apparition
Album artwork for Parallel with the Sun by Cloned Apparition
In such an oversaturated genre, and one that’s so challenging to stand out from the rest, it can be a risk putting out a record into a space where so many bands have already cemented themselves as pinnacles. It’s dangerously easy to dissolve into the background of Nu-Grunge/Grungegaze, and Cloned Apparition from Montreal have taken a leap of faith worthy of an Olympic gold medal by putting out their first full-length album, “Parallel with the Sun.”
Opening this record, you’re welcomed into a textbook nu-gaze atmosphere, with distorted riffs guiding the way. The tone of the guitar, while it’s nothing mind-blowing, is the expected from a blend of genres that many find enjoyment in the primary fuzziness. When you unite that sound with coarse, dishevelled, compelling vocals, you get… another record, but not this one. The opening track being titled, Accidents, is ironically unfortunate, as it only gets so far into the realm of appealing until it stumbles and falls flat on its face. So much for that Olympic gold medal. The track fades with a meaner twist on the already repeated riff, followed by a strung out blend of grainy ambience, leaving background noise for you to plead to yourself, “Please get better than this.”
Then you’re taken by surprise when a drum ‘n’ bass intro catapults from the silence and demands your attention. It gets it, not because it’s intriguing or commanding, but because it sticks out like a sore thumb; painful and vexatious. What makes this abrupt switch in sound unpleasant, is that it creates a false sense of direction. You’d be wrong to assume the lane in which the track will dive into, and you wouldn’t be the only one, so at least there’s solidarity in confusion. Maybe this is where the influence for the “nu” elements were pulled from, and if that’s the case, they’ve been pulled from the wrong hat. Throughout “Parallel with the Sun”, there is such an apparent absence of nu-metal quirks that it feels offensive to label yourself as a band that incorporates that genre into your sound. Sure, they’ve been dusted into the very depths of the tracks, but by no means are they prominent enough to have significance on where you’re trying to be categorised. Had Cloned Apparition reached further into that genre and injected more elements into their sound, they could’ve added much more flair and experimentation, which would’ve pricked up a lot more ears.
Thankfully, there is a shift in vocal cadence and demeanour in the riffs come the latter half of the second track and that section alone is so enticing you almost feel bad for nearly turning the record off after the first song. “Finally, the angst has been brought onto the playing field,” you think to yourself, and get ready to throw a couple moves in sync with the abrasive, stomp-inducing riffs, and stringent vocals. But, adversity takes a seat beside you and places its hand on your shoulder, waiting for you realise that the pace only picked up because of the featured vocalist from Mile End. Anti-climaxes are frustrating, especially when a band shows you a glimpse of what they could be, and what you could have, before tearing it away from you, leaving you feeling disheartened and cheated. It’s like being in the queue at your favourite bakery, eyeing up that last sweet treat that you’ve been longing for all day at work, only for it to be snatched by little, retired Betty in front of you. This feature is the only thing dangling this album by the scruff of the neck on the edge of no ranking at all, and to have the attribution to another bands’ member being the piece that brings just a slither of exhilaration to your entire record, shouldn’t bode well for encouragement.
It seems to be a recurring theme throughout this album - tiptoeing ever so slightly on the cusp of something credible, before shying away at the last second. Whether that’s because the band themselves don’t believe in their ability to be innovative without becoming gimmicky, or because they would rather stay in their safe zone, who knows. But what is undoubtable is that these decisions are going to leave a lot of listeners wanting more from future releases, or simply just not returning at all. The capability is there, and Cloned Apparition show that, but maybe they’re too early in their career to feel adventurous enough to take the leap. Expect to be teased with malign, drop tuned guitars, panic chords, and pinch harmonics that will taunt and infuriate you when you realise that they’re 15 seconds away from becoming a distant memory.
With regards to the vocals, they could be brought further forward into the mix without losing their shoegaze touch, and that wouldn’t detract from the atmosphere that they’re clearly aiming for on this record. There’s a colossal amount of room for the vocalist to push themselves more with their range and technique, because as it stands, the one dimensional vocals drain life from the record, rather than work harmoniously alongside the rest of the band. It’s not far fetched to say that the instrumentals carry the pack just within reach of the line of being enjoyable, but the monotonous toned vocals dig its heels behind, preventing that final step into another calibre.
“Parallel with the Sun” doesn’t make it off the starting line at all. It’s nothing that hasn’t been done before. Cloned Apparition are chasing a sound that already lives in territory covered by hugely successful bands, and they deny themselves the opportunity to add anything that makes them stand out in an already oversaturated genre. The foundation is there, but they need to push themselves out of their copycat box and find something that’ll make them unique, because right now they’re buried 6 feet deep in a genre that is rather difficult to stand out in. When you’re pulling the bare necessities of a genre and not advancing beyond the minimum requirements to qualify under said genre(s), you’re unlikely to produce a record that’s worthy of challenging the places of the substantiated artists already making waves. The fear of being different is what holds a lot of artists back from potentially making a mark on their respective scene, and “Parallel With The Sun” is a faded mark, erased halfway through a listen following the brutal disappointment when you thought it was heading somewhere.
FFO: Split Chain, Soul Blind, Trauma Ray
SCORE: 2/10
“Parallel with the Sun” is out on all streaming platforms on Friday, 17th July via Static Era Records.
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