MUTE

And on we go through the growing list of disappointing 2010 releases. I admit my hopes for Mute were quite high. I was rather charmed by the preceding Building an Empire and I had hoped Demians would overcome the issues with their debut, which were the sameness of the material and the lack of memorable melodies in some of the songs.

Unfortunately they did exactly the opposite. Gone are the long progressive epics that stood out on the previous album. The band merely goes routinely through 9 samey tracks that all follow a pattern of swelling emo vocals and building walls of guitars. Now that doesn't make it a bad album, it's reaonably good if you enjoy a bit of modern emo-rock. Except for Overhead, which overtly cites Led Zeppelin as a source of inspiration, the main influences would be Tool, Radiohead, Muse and Porcupine Tree.

I think Demians could be a strong live band, their dynamic and organic playing is pleasant to listen to, but the material lacks personality and quality to also set my living room afire. Certainly after a couple of listens, the inital (positive) impression quickly wears off. Id like to give 3 stars but it's really not enough. This band will have to do a lot better till they get anywhere near PT's heels.