“Under Songs is the debut EP from Perth based musician DrAlienSmith, who combines several different styles and makes a style of music that’s all his own.
Slow, fuzzed out sludgy guitars open up the EP with Underslung, the slow,repetitive nature of the riffs combined with the huge sound creating a really cathartic feeling, the sound resonating deeply throughout your head. Repetitive, rhythmic drums add to the meditative feeling, while synths float beautifully in the background, adding a degree of melody to the fuzzed out sound, which manages to be as relaxing as it is heavy.It’s a great, albeit short opener for the EP. Second track Guth and Zeno begins with noise and experiments, before more melancholic sludgy guitar lines come in, really building up a good atmosphere, with more swirling synths, and the noises sounding like gentle howls, its somewhat more unsettling than the opener, but just as engaging, with great use of dynamics and effects throughout, my favourite track from the release.
Connective Tissue shows DrAlienSmith has more experiments up his sleeve with twisted lead guitars weaving their way around, surrounded by more sludgy riffs, and unsettling ambient noises providing an atmospheric backdrop. The layers and layers of guitar really make the sound thick and all encompassing, and that can be said for all these first three tracks. Endo Turn closes the release, with industrial sounding dark ambient, strange electronic noises, and twisted de-tuned lead guitar creating a disturbing atmosphere. With creepy wirey sounding bass coming in, alongside the incoming heavy guitars, which take much more of a backseat than on the rest of the release, this is just one weird as hell experiment with dark and gloomy sounds, but it really works.
Under Songs is definitely an interesting listen, and one that will appeal as much to post-rock and shoegaze fans as it will those adherents of metal. The way he builds his songs is really engaging, and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes experimental music, as well as those who just like big fat riffs.”