02-02-2010Album reviews - My Own Private Alaska

Amen sampler review - 4/5 -1-03-2010

My Own Private Alaska are one extremely interesting proposition. Upon first listen of the three track sampler for new album 'Amen' you are shook from almost all that you have considered safe and normal in the evolution of rock music. We've heard countless efforts at genre bending and seen more fusions than Frankenstein's basement and most of the time they are faddy, easy to detect and instantly obvious. Not so much for this group of French experimentalists who have somehow managed to take the beauty that can be found in a well played piano line with the darkest imagery conjured from listening to the most extreme death metal curdle.
 
First song 'After You' opens with a dark punk vibe with vocalist Milka sounding uneasy and menacing, as the piano begins and the screams kick into gear you begin to form a new direction from which to take My Own Private Alaska. About a minute in and the rolling keys flow in tandem with the drums and are lacerated by the piercing shrieks, it sounds like an odd combination but somehow it works in a moving way. It definitely bites but it has the jaw strength of a bulldog locking you in, not releasing you from its form of sadistic play.
 
'Die For Me' is the best of all three tracks on offer, its piano plays melodic sequences littered with flutters of keys over a pressing dischord. Vocally it doesn't kick in til midway through and even then Milka has enough restraint in his voice to situate himself as an integral part of the track. The oddly enchanting chorus with its sung line is shrill and borders upon the anthemic. The vocals have a feel of Blood Brother amongst others whilst the music sweeps through from everything from post American rock to Scandinavian soundscapes whilst stopping at a few orchestra houses along the way.
 
Finishing up is 'Broken Army' and begins with a simple drum before launching into a piano piece caught somewhere between the Exorcist and The X Files. It has a sound that is built upon layers and feels wholly textured, although  that comes with the advantage of having such a virtuoso as Ross Robinson at the helm who has previously worked with some pretty marked acts. He obviously liked something and that appears to have transcended unilaterally as the band rack up numerous plays on you tube and other social networking sites. As it breaks off into a piano solo it does lose slight momentum but it is then all brought back with a snapping snare and back in with that horror movie score. It feels as the backing music is that of a psychological horror which doesn't allow you to see the killing for artistic effect, the question is are the vocals that of the victim or the killer? Whatever the answer I havent heard something so unusally refreshing in quite some time with it leaving a high expectation for the full length to follow.
 
For more information check out http://www.myspace.com/myownprivatealaska