Tenth Planet
The Prophet Curse LP
Tenth Planet offer up a pretty unnerving inlay image that puts them right up there with some Quentin Tarantino bad-guys. Not being a band to disappoint, the record has a certain dark edge that underlies each song and, without ever actually resorting to out and out shouting or intense noise, there is definitely a heaviness underpinning this record that turns the rocking tracks into something rather more substantial.
‘Shadow’ dirties things up on the guitar with big drums and crunchy bass driving things along. The vocal is in the upper reaches of gutsy, conveying enough emotion to choke a therapist.
The following track, ‘We are the Cause of Everything’, keeps a firm grip on the determined drive that ‘Shadow’ created, but holds back on the instrumentation to create a song that sounds like a heavier version of U2. Sparkly synth and cleanly delayed guitars add to this effect. If you can listen to this song without imagining a slow-mo, band-in-the-rain black and white video – you probably don’t have an imagination.
‘Ariane’ notches the guitars up once more with a rock track that matches A Perfect Circle for goth-rock intent and adds some sprawling metal into the mix like a thoughtful caveman discovering steel.
The switch marked ‘Epic’ is flicked on once more for ‘Do You Remain’, which has a noteworthy drum beat that smacks out a solid rhythm on the toms that adds gravity to the song to compliment the singers deep delivery of the vocal.
The guitars are sinister and the subject matter in ‘American Dreams’, which is bitter enough to scare away the sugar. In the music department, things get bigger and bigger and the vocal nudges ahead to deliver it’s point. It’s poignant, it’s angry and it’s going to ruffle some feathers – and it’s about time a band put that danger back into the music scene.
‘Overboard’ ends the record on a more relaxed note with an orchestral feel to the instrumentation that almost completely matches up to the suicidal suggestions in the lyrics.
Tenth Planet have included all their lyrics in the inlay card and that’s not just for those who want to sing along. To get an understanding of this band’s depth, you need to have at least a brief glance at these words, especially ‘Do You Remain’, but especially ‘American Dreams… or is it ‘We are the Cause of Everything’?
There’s nothing to fault on this recording, which is probably what you might expect from an EP that has production credits from Jeff Martin.
If you like your rock heavy and your music shockingly honest – you’d be hard pressed to find a better record.
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