IDLE HANDS
EISENWALD Portland’s fast-rising metallers forge an unlikely 80s alliance
Forty years ago, the New Wave Of British
Heavy Metal and the gothic rock scene were emerging simultaneously, each offering exciting new takes on post-punk guitar music from entirely separate perspectives. Iron Maiden,
Motörhead and Saxon were crossing backstage paths with The Cure, Bauhaus and Siouxsie And The Banshees at early-80s Top Of The Pops studios, but it took a while for these disparate youth tribes and sounds to really hook up. Sisters Of Mercy and Fields Of The Nephilim hardened and thickened goth’s guitar attack, while the likes of Paradise Lost, Type O Negative and Moonspell made a swooning beeline from gnarly extremity to goth’s cleaner textures and pop savvy, but this cross-fertilisation hasn’t always sat well with fans of either genre.
On Idle Hands’ debut LP – following a well-received EP last year – this Portland, Oregon quartet distinguish themselves with an approach that’s consistently equidistant between the two styles, where the sprightly twin-guitar melodies and rhythmic force of metal interact sympathetically with Johnny Marr-inflected clean jangles, vulnerable emotive choruses and vocals occasionally reminiscent of Robert Smith turning into a werewolf. Three bandmates served time in retrospeed/power metal acts Silver Talon and Spellcaster, so Mana represents a surprisingly adept and convincing shift in sonic priorities for these young musicians, but one obsession remains overriding: the primacy of the early 80s. Although Mana is hung with the existential ennui caused by nostalgic yearning for a time 15 years before its creators were born, it’s quite elegant in its restraint and conviction; this is no contrived ironic pastiche, but a heartfelt joining together of timeless influences, succeeding not just through affection, but by the strength of its material. Each of the 11 songs justifies its place, finding new variations on an enjoyable formula.
Paradise Lost, HIM, The Cure