we're getting some reviews for our first full length album:
http://www.thenotdead.com/en/discos/i/6847/53/recs-of-the-flesh-illusory-fields-of-unconsciousness-2008
Written by TheBane
"The long distances separating
Italy from the
United States and
Spain are no obstacle to unite a band like
Recs Of The Flesh. A four pieced band which recently has been able to record a superb album which now I have in my hands. Baptized as
Illusory Fields Of Unconsciousness (2008), I can't stop listening to it's tracks since the first time we've recieved it. An album with loads of variety, containing a splendid bunch of songs that only exquisite ears should appreciate.
Rock guitars are surfacing on the first song
Social Failure which, acompanied with the beating of the drums, make the main rythm of a track that could perfectly be, though more sinister and dense, on the set of
Queens Of The Stone Age at the time of
Lullabies To Paralyze (2005). A sublime mix of
Sara Melis dark keyboards with a
Stoner Rock space sound perception is showed properly in
Burnover, an impresive tune, a little bit lighter than the rest of the album. Distorted guitars appear again and heavier than before in the next track title,
Intensive Care Unit.
Becoming something more exciting, and without losing one inch of it's darkness, approaches the next song,
Getting It On, with a repetitive sound of rusted steel that can penetrate your brain. As a merge between
The Pixies and
Sonic Youth, we get immersed on
Urban Tension Development Swing, an awesome track that demonstrates that
Recs Of The Flesh domain some of the genres that surround the cosmos of
Rock. The album goes on with
Revelations From The Self, a song based on
New Wave sounds filled with touches of darkness and sinister, recalling of a band like
Placebo on their best moments.
The constant use of distortion on
Massimo Usai voice, remains me of
Rob Zombie debut album,
Hellbilly Deluxe (1998) and also of
Marilyn Manson on his first effort
Portrait Of An American Family (1994), a comparation that finally fits totally when you hear the seventh track, entitled
Friends?. But there's also time enough to take a look into
Pop sounds, with songs like
Not Easily Impressed, altough the use of keyboards became on a more psychedelic wave, a feeling you can get again with their following track
Behave (On The Path Of The Psycho).
When we are close to get to the final part of the album, we can hear one of the best songs, in my opinion, included on
Illusory Fields Of Unconsciousness (2008). I'm talking about
Solutions To Non-Existing Problems, a good song charged with a compact atmosphere, well conducted in part by the bass depth on it's entry but also with the guitar slick. An awesome bridge breaks the song in two, making it more intense with some delay and chorus effects.
With a similar structure to other previous songs registered on the album,
Never Forget brings the strenght and charm to the final minutes of this excellent debut. To surprise of the listeners there is another extra track at the end of the album, much more
Punk Rock oriented. A nice end to a great work done by
Recs Of The Flesh, an interesting band anyone should listen to."
http://zionsivasgroove.com/2008/11/18/recs-of-the-flesh-illusory-fields-of-unconsciousness/
Written by Emilio "ZIONSIVA" Bellu
"Sardinia is a beautiful, shiny island, known for its pristine shores and incredible landscapes. Or at least that's what appears on the surface. Just like in the opening of David Lynch's
Blue Velvet, once you get closer to the green grass, something very disturbing emerges. But disturbing can be seducing, and, as Recs of the Flesh's music show, it can sound real good.
Little disclaimer: I've known Max, the leader of Recs of The Flesh, for some fifteen years now, so this might not be the most unbiased review ever. But moving on.
Recs of the Flesh is an italian-spanish-american outfit based in Cagliari, Sardinia. Max, lead singer and guitarist, managed to connect with a spanish drummer via YouTube and an american bassist via Myspace. With the help of Sara Melis, whose keyboard playing oozes of an infecting b-movie mood in the vein of John Carpenter's best soundtracks, the band started working on Max's song, with the goal of recording a full length album. Not an easy feat, considering the geographical problems. Some of the music was rehearsed and recorded online, with files sent around different continents and Skype being used as a remote music studio. The result is
Illusory Fields of Unconsciousness, the band's first record. One would think that this unconventional band setup would make for a disjointed and confused sound, but this is Max's band, and his vision leads the songs in a very coherent, strong direction.
Max sings about alienation, his landscape filled with images of paranoia, conspiracies, obsessions and urban fears. Max's language of choice is english, but this is all coming from a mediterranean island, and in a way it seems like the rough edges in the music are tempered by this background. A lot of the choices seem to mirror the band's isolation: the muffled voice and the moody mix give a sinister spin to the songs, as if they were being listened in a subterranean vault after a nuclear fallout, or, more precisely, from an island haunted by images and suggestions streamed from all over the world, but unable to affect the world itself. The album is quite bleak, but, in the best tradition of bands like The Raveonettes, Sonic Youth and The Cure, it's a sexy, groovy bleakness. The songs are tight, powerful and enjoyable, and Max's love of sound gives the record a very distinct atmosphere, made of mysterious and haunting sonic textures. It's a great contrast that makes the record a very intriguing listen, one that impresses right away and keeps on growing over time.
What makes Recs of the Flesh special is not their geography alone. The band's sound is a prime example of what a person that strives to beat isolation in the digital world can achieve with some drive and vision, even if he decides not to leave his own town. Pretty impressive stuff."