DOPPELGÄNGER

Fall of Troy's Doppelganger is that rare erruption of savage creativity and energy that makes the listener's brain shatter with its awesomeness-- then proceeds to beat the staggered listener into oblivion with a non-stop assault of sound.

While it would be unfair to say that Fall of Troy is a Mars Volta clone... the inspiration is very, very clear. Fast, catchy, ambitious rhythms with frenzied guitar creativity abound through Doppleganger, and the virtuosity displayed by these three musicians is genuinely impressive. It's amazing how many sounds they cram into these short tunes, the first half alone giving us a first rate combination of trash, hardcore, atmospheric, melodic, and poly- rythmic coolness. Bass and drum work is first rate. Erak's vocals are almost as busy as his guitar playing, as he changes between his clean, high-timbre singing voice and intense screams constantly. The listener should be prepared for lots of screaming, very much out of the modern hardcore movement-- which I generally dislike; however, there is a genuine fun to his melodic choruses and screams which I think elevates above the emo-crowd considerably. Still... be prepared for screaming.

Songwriting is generally good, though I do feel like Doppleganger is still showing the band in their adolescence. It feels like the group is exploring their potential, and the quality in songs declines in the last third or so of the album, where Erak's vocals get a bit excessive. Also, there's the huge shadow of Mars Volta sound looming over this entire album, which certainly doesn't detract from its enjoyment, but shows that the group is wearing its influences on their sleeve.

Bottom line-- much of Doppleganer is crazy awesome. The band's musicianship is amazing, as is their energy and intensity; there is a lot going here, especially given the band's youth at the time. Highly recommended to fans seeking something a little hardcore to smash away the quite for an enjoyable 40 minutes. "Heavy prog" is almost a misnomer here. I look forward to seeing where this group goes next!

Songwriting: 3 Instrumental Performances: 5 Lyrics/Vocals: 3 Style/Emotion/Replay: 5