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PREMONITIONS OF WAR
"Left
in Kowloon" (Victory; 2004)
Reviewed by Christopher J. Kelter
Victory Records signed Premonitions Of War after one EP and a full-length CD on a couple of obscure labels. As you might guess, I’d heard a lot about Premonitions Of War, but never managed to hear them.
“Left In Kowloon” is the band’s second full-length CD and one hell of an introduction to the band. Premonitions Of War meddle in the metalcore genre but draw equally from death metal and grindcore for a sound that is a bit indescribable - an impressive feat in and of itself. Classic metal riffs (see “The Octopus” for proof) also make appearances for an even greater dimensionality rarely seen in band of this ilk.
Equally adept at blistering runs at less than one-minute and seemingly epic tunes running past five minutes Premonitions Of War get their point across by variation at all times. Largely a hit-or-miss affair, “Left in Kowloon” keeps the listener on their toes at all costs.
The bottom-line is that Premonitions Of War’s technical skills make this release an enjoyable one for me. While I can’t say I cared a lot for the metalcore genre in the early going, I am becoming more impressed with the progress made by bands like Premonition Of War.
Overall “Left In Kowloon” is a bit noisy and scattered for my tastes, but still it’s an impressive release. “Left In Kowloon” blazes by in 26 minutes, but seems a lot longer than that. Somehow I’m very enamored of that fact at the moment and I’ll leave it up to you to decide if it is a good thing or not.
“Left In Kowloon” was produced and engineered by Erik Ruatan (Hate Eternal).
Premonitions Of War is M. Gaytan, N. Hale, P. Meyers, D. Schoenhofer, and B. Wharton.
For more information visit http://premonitionsofwar.com.
Rating Guide:
A classic. This record will kick your ass.
Killer. Not a classic but it will rock your world.
So-so. You've heard better.
Pretty bad. Might make a nice coaster.
Self explanatory. Just the sight of the cover makes you wanna hurl.
Copyright © 2004 by R. Scott Bolton. All rights reserved.
