AudioSlave set foundations for an audio-phizog

To review AudioSlave’s debut before its official release date required a bit of effort: there was just one copy in the Sony HQ building in London and the only way to get to hear what ‘AudioSlave’ is like was to go in and listen in-office. (Not ideal but we were dying to wrap our shell-like round it.) Security around the album was obviously stepped up to a high level due to the demo-tapes fiasco of having them online. And yet, if you happen to visit the official site, the debut single ‘Cochise’, its release’s been postponed until the beginning of January, has been streamed for a while; a fine track although a fair bit Zepplinesque, about “the last great American Indian chief to die free and absolutely unconquered,” commented guitarist Tom Morello.

The rest of the material plays like a band on a way to forge sonic identity, yo-yoing between Rage Against The Machine and Soundgarden with quite a few moments when the two combine into the new entity that is, hopefully, the emerging AudioSlave sound. ‘What You Are’ is a ballady track with some incredible, fast breaks that really lift the song out of its conventional setting, which ‘Set It Off’ certainly suffers from while managing to contain something strange and unsettling. ‘What You Are’, ‘Like A Stone’ and ‘I Am The Highway’ in particular, sound like having been initiated by Chris Cornell and the later one is surely a chick-song. (It will probably also work as a babe-puller.)

‘Explodes’ is where the band really becomes AudioSlave; it rocks on all cylinders and it is instantly obvious that this is going to be a live favourite; you can sense motion of the crowd in its groove, the mass-mosh coming on. ‘Hypnotize’ is another burner that is bound to be a bona fide concert pleaser with added attention paid to details. (Possibly the primest cut on the LP!) Morello’s always been very fond of details that can be heard on so many tracks confirming that he remains one of the most innovative and amazing six-string players. ‘Bring ‘Em Back Alive’ is a power-mad riff-fest!

Music is not so politically loaded as RATM used to be, it is more socially aware and Cornell delivers it in a manner that recalls his early Soundgarden days. Still, there are few other instances when he experiments with vocals and ends a song scatting. A very promising debut but not as groundbreaking disc as the original RATM’s disc was 9 years ago. And, it’ll be very interesting to see what the band is going to sound like when they come Euro-touring in January.

Last (almost) word goes to Morello: “I was reading a copy of Rolling Stone (mag) few months back and it had, I think, The Vines on the cover and it proclaimed – ‘Rock is back!’ And I thought to myself, ‘Wait until you hear our record, you have no idea how back rock is about to be!’” In parts, seriously, bro!

8.6/10