Dinner Is You Review

Band	Albatross
Album	Dinner Is You
Type	EP
Released	September 2010
Genres	Power Metal
Labels	Demonstealer
Length	23:30

Reviewer :  todesenlge89         Rating :  70 / 100

Albatross was formed in 2007 by bassist Riju, to fuse his love for literature with heavy metal bands such as King Diamond. Dinner is You is the first studio output by the band.

The introductory track, The Great Plague of the 21st Century begins with a chilling background music, and a haunting recital of a nursery rhyme, setting a spine-tingling atmosphere and the mood for the tracks to come. Throughout the album, lots of spoken vocals are included, right from the first proper track, The Dining Table onwards, reminiscent of old-school shock rock bands such as Alice Cooper. However, this is just a prelude of the madness to come as the band breaks out into power metal riffs and Biposhree displays his vocal range, alternating between falsettos (in such instances King Diamond immediately come to mind) and a gruffer style of singing, shifting styles to suit the mood of the music.

The guitar solos included on songs such as The Dining Table are almost unexpected, with slow and thoughtful notes being pulled out from the strings, emphasising more on the emotions and the mood of the notes rather than just sheer speed and technicality that most power metal bands choose to utilise.

The various sound effects included such as the screams at the beginning of In the Court of Kuru certainly add on to the already creepy atmosphere of the music, with the constant presence of other elements such as the chanting or the chimes at the background of the songs.

The highlight on this short EP is perhaps the last track Among the Cannibals, a 10 minute epic track, the dialogue between a "prosecutor" and a "master", to be thrown into the midst of cannibals. It is on this track that Albatross displays their ability, with each instrument playing parts to contribute to the tension and anxiousness in the music, such as the drumming as the "prosecutor" announces the fate of the "master" in the first verse, before the heavy chugging of the guitars begin. The transition between clean vocals and a pseudo-shriek to represent the individual characters also add a nice touch to the overall experience. Further madness ensues as laughter are heard (reminds me of King Diamond's Abigail) at the background of the music towards the end of the song.

However, the last track makes no sense unless one reads the lyrics of the previous tracks, which tell of a story about a man who gets tricked into a dinner where he ends up being the dinner instead (hence the album title, Dinner is You). While the lyrics are simple and easy to follow, they add a well-rounded experience for listeners who bother reading them to find out what this EP is all about.

A good debut effort, and certainly one of the many bands out of India to watch out for in the near future!

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