chronique sur heaten harvest


Tormenta's self-titled EP is a great starting block for any progressive
metal group. The band formed in 2005 and it's taken them three years to
put something on CD that's worth charging for. Visually they don't give
much about themselves away save for moody photos taken against rural
French architecture and the odd piece of surrealistic sculpture thrown
into their MySpace page for good measure. After all, what's the point
of being a progressive metal musician if you can't confound at least
some of your potential fanbase with clichés? Nevertheless, even though
this might seem like a pretentious start, Tormenta's music comes across
as anything but. This four-track offering of instrumental progressive
metal takes itself seriously but modestly, and it's very clear from the
first microtone that the band know what they're doing.



The packaging of the EP is a little bit confounding - at first glance I
thought this was some kind of EBM or industrial disc with it's
cyclical, swirling patterns and spacelike artwork. The concentric
circles in the band's logo hint at planetary rotations while the inside
of the sleeve - a figure of the human anatomy beset with organs, cogs
and belching fumes - looks like something David Lynch would have
doodled in film studies. Taking the band's Frenchness into
consideration I should be thankful that the track titles are
linguistically coherent with not too much 'wacky' wordplay, puns,
in-jokes and recurring instances of the letter Z. In fact, the subtlety
of the artwork seems to fit quite nicely with the band's downplayed
attitude.



There are no vocals on this EP - Tormenta have set themselves up as an
entirely instrumental band, at this point anyway. There are two sets of
lead guitars and backing drums with no bass or keys. The EP starts off
with the melodic "Mirages" with its skipping, rollicking guitar lines,
played confidently and deftly. The song changes from slow, staccato'd
guitar to high, speed-metal solos. "Collisions" is a heavier piece
putting more emphasis on lower-end power chords and alternating time
signatures. "Fievre et Calculs Morbides" is quite possibly the most
complex of the four songs, employing stoner-like doom sections with
classic rock and faster progressive sections, whereas "Le Retour de la
Noyee" is the slowest and most ambient of the four. This isn't just any
old Dream Theater or LTE worship album: there are heavier, more
metalcore influenced frissons, and more than a couple of times I was
able to detect the slightest nod towards bands like Sikth or Textures.



Tormenta's EP is a great opener for a promising band. The playing isn't
first-rate and sometimes the drumming and timing is little bit sloppy,
but not enough to detract from the overall feel of the music. Of course
at this stage it's not quite as accomplished as other bands like
Spastic Ink or Sleep Terror but it's definitely going in the right
direction. Tormenta have shown themselves to be a serious and talented
band with the potential to do something impressive in the years to
come. A little more experimentation and a little less holding back
should provide for some very absorbing releases indeed