Coriolis
'The Endless Funeral'
(Youngside records)
MARK: 82/100
"The Endless Funeral" is a long record, comprising all the feelings leader and polyinstrumentalist Jonathan P. Stamets had in the last 5 years; had he written a book, it would've taken a decade to be completed.
Opening his heart outspokenly and showing us the harshness existence can reserve for us, the songs range from Dark/EBM with cool guitars ("Welcome to My World Pt. 1") to more dynamic, catchy Gothic metal or rock tunes with robotic vocals ("Thank You", "All for One", "Same As It Ever Was", or the title-track, gifted with sharp guitars), to Dark rock lullabies ("Lie?").
One of the mainstays resides in the vocals and the refrains, damned, hypnotic and well-arranged, so as to be remembered easily without dread of growing boring, and even if "Everything Must Go" or the beginning of "Welcome to My World Pt. 2" can remind of Marylin Manson for a few seconds, you can be sure the inspiration isn't lacking, as depicted in the remaining 80% of the two tracks and in the other ones.
Masterpiece of the funereal platter, "See You in Hell", is a long and articulated track, where the mortuary keyboards perfectly blend with the drums, aimed at increasing the tension; the great chorus boasts synths and solemn vocals occasionally make way for sporadic crushing guitars. All the veterans of Dark rock wish they'd composed lyrics and vocal arrangements like the ones here included. No doubt this is gonna be a pretty involving killer live, too!
"Weight of the World" is the hardest to assimilate, maybe owing to its too slow pace making it sound a tad tired, mixes Pop, Rock, Industrial, leaving something to be desired during a few passages, still it's saved by the interesting flute/guitar ending coming before the cybernaturalistic refrain (what an oxymoron!).
The foggy, heavy, hopeless conclusion lies in the notes of "Welcome to My World Pt. 3", where the music stops, the heartbeats stop and finally the death-rattles leave the scene to silence. But after a minute and a half the heart stops beating again...
The path was long, still these 12 tracks gave us a battery of emotions, and that's what we look for in an album. The awesome digipack and the precise, yet not surgical recording, contribute to elevate the value of the product. Mr. Stamets and his band may not have a full schedule of tours all year, but this doesn't mean they aren't professionals. He is a humble man when he says he's found out he ain't that great either, but from my point of view he is more than a singer, guitarist, flutist and programmer; he's a talented artist and he also seems to take care of the details of Coriolis's theatrical live appearances.
If you love at least one song from one of the following bands, don't miss a chance of listening to one from the North American 3-piece: Nine Inch Nails, Marylin Manson, Korn, Depeche Mode, Sisters Of Mercy, The Mission, Fields Of The Nephilim, Skinny Puppy, Sex Gang Children, Alien Sex Fiend, Gene Loves Jezebel, Cassandra Complex.
Line-up on this record:
Jonathan P. Stamets - vocals, guitar, keyboard, programming, pennywhistles
Dan Schultz - guitar, lead g.
Jim Yanus - drums, programming
Contacts:
USA
E-mail: coriolis@synthmetal.com
Official sites:
http://www.myspace.com/coriolis
Demo-/Disco-graphy:
-The Endless Funeral (Digipack CD - 2010)
