By Dave Guzda
I was quite impressed with Australasia's previous release Sin4tr4 so I was eager to dive into their new full length release Vertebra. I found Sin4tr4 to be a deeply compelling instrumental journey that touched on atmospheric post-rock and metal with numerous peaks and valleys within those genres. That direction holds true for Vertebra. The Italian band's new ten song album includes two thunderous tracks from Sin4tr4, 'Antenna' and 'Apnea'. So if you didn't pick up Sin4tr4, you'll find them a welcome addition to Vertebra.
Vertebra starts off with 'Aorta' which is full of vibrant textures. The first musical course is served with a lonely guitar that is dramatically pounced upon by loud guitar and exploding drums. This sudden fury tones down allowing a beautiful and striking, simple piano key to echo solemnly within the mix. The song ends with some vocal play by Mina Carlucci of Vostok. She has a sweet voice that reminds me of Sonya Madan from Echobelly. She has a great voice that in another context I might enjoy but I didn't feel her vocals were well suited to this material... pounding drums rolls, shattering guitar then sweet sounding Mina. It just didn't work for me. I didn't mind Mina's vocal harmonies on tracks like 'Apnea' where they were subtly infused into the overall vibe of the track. There are however a few instances on Vertebra where she takes the spotlight, such as the softer sounding song 'Aura'. She does a few extended vocal scats at the end the track which I found pulled Australasia's sound in a unusual and uncharacteristic poppy direction. I thought I timewarped into an episode of The Voice with all the vocal gymnastics.
The vocal experimentation is fortunately confined to 'Aura'. The rest of the material on Vertebra is more of the lush post-rock instrumental journey that made such a positive impression on Sin4tr4. Leading the way is 'Vostok' with its memorable heavy guitar intro, plentiful smashy cymbals and endearing acoustic guitar fade-out ending. There is a far bit of synth on Vertebra. I thought it was used more atmospherically on the Sin4tr4 tracks. Synths has a fair bit of time in the foreground on Vertebra. On some of the tracks the soft synth tones really make the punching guitar sections stand out. 'Zero' begins with well paced marching drums and synth that dances along to the beat. Australasia is in fine form on this well balanced creative gem.
Next, Australasia string together two short tracks that hover around 2m each. The first appropriately entitled 'Volume' is clearly intended to be played at high volume. It's a blistering track bringing to mind driving in the left lane, pedal down, on warm spring day, windows down, wind in your hair... The sonic blast of guitar hits immediately and rises into a tumultuous drum furor. The end of the song falls off enticingly with delicate shimmering chimes. Like the tracks on Sin4tr4, many of Vertebra's songs have a mesmerizing and evocative quality. The title track is subdued but equally compelling as the heavier songs on the album. 'Vertebra's guitar chirps a pensive riff that merges with atmospheric synth for a soothing warmhearted vibe. Every track is a journey to a unique musical place full of lush character and vivid imagery.
Another sub two minute track 'Deficit' starts off with jangling guitar that explodes into a firestorm of drums. The track slows midway as airy synth fade in. I wasn't overly fond of the synth sound here which I found somewhat shrill and screechy. The sharp synth sound is also found on the closing track 'Cinema'. This massive track clocks in at over 7 minutes and it is a ponderous, meandering track which loses steam with awkward synth midway through.
Vertebra certainly provides plenty of solid material from Australasia. Unfortunately the sustained crispness that intrigued me throughout Sin4tr4 was missing from a few tracks on Vertebra. The tracks with augmented vocal and synth presence were somewhat disappointing. But they made up a small piece of the Vertebra pie. When Australasia stick to rocking: 'Volume', 'Zero', 'Vostok' (and the two tracks from Sin4tr4) they are by far at their best with vigorously evocative and moving material. Even with a few missteps Vertebra's overall quality and creativity does win out making the album well worth a listen.
