CORE - From Within CD

Essentially, the debut studio album from Dundee metallers Core, the first thing you have to say is that they've got the production and sound absolutely spot on, brining out the best in this trio where dynamics play as vital a part as power itself.
The album opens with the sound of Brian's ringing guitar riff as it suddenly crashes into Gav's pounding lurch of drumming and Robbie's bass throb, before guitarist Brian enters with a half-whispered menace of a vocal as the mood subsides only then for the singer to unleash his full vocal strength to provide a chorus backed by the band erupting once again before dropping back once more to the silent force of the verse. The next chorus sees the lead vocal joined a an accompanying howl of a vocal as the chrous, also multi-vocal, rises up with that huge wall of riffing and the meatiest of rhythm sections. Then then hammer into an instrumental section with riffs glowing and rhythms blasting. Just as you think it's going to take off like a rocket, it all drops back – THEN it takes off like a rocket as the vocals soar out of sight, the guitar expanse covers the sky and the hammer-blow of rhythms continues to rock your skull before it all ends in a judder of riffing and drumming. “Self Depracation” immediateoly changes the mood with a massive crashing rhythm and more storm-force drumming, this time the bass booming out on top as the guitar glides like a solar flare underneath. The vocals, almost treated, are spat our with absolute venom, full of rage and tension and the perfect overlay for the molten whirlpol of riffing, bass metal and rock solid drumming. Again, the song takes a twist as the pace heats up, the vocals gop even more into overdrive and the whole song powers ahead like an out of control juggernaut, taking everything in its path and just sensational with it. This mood and rage evolves into “Hollow” as another intense but dyanmic song is unleashed with restrained fury and all-out attack, this time the rhythms lurching in the verses, flooding out with the choruses and the guitars spreading out like napalm underneath. They drop it all back to a sea of cymbals, crashing drumming, deep bass and ringing guitars, as a more menacing, almost languid, vocal takes over only then for the singer to erupt with fury as the song launches itself right at you, taking no prisoners, a solid ball of mid-paced metal thunder right in your face. “Inside” is a slower number at first with more whispered menace of a vocal before blasting out in a hail of guitar squall, thunderous drumming and booming bass, the singer now veering between throaty holler and in-tune singing. The band then go into a mid-section full of melody and strength as the guitar takes a cyclical lead over a sea of riffs and the rhythm section drive forward with intent, that drumming still absolutely unbelievably great on another dynamic roar of a song. “Intellectual Property” is a slower track opening with delicate cymbals and upfront bass throb as a vocal comes in sounding like Frank Zappa on “Joe's Garage”, all menacing and silent. Then the track erupts like a volcano in your face before dropping back down only this time the drums are like bomb blasts going off before the roar returns and the song takes off in a nuclear frenzy of guitars, bass and drums, not to mentioned the scream of the anguished vocalist as the guitar riffs scythe, the drumming bombing never ceases and the bass runs like molten lava underneath. Again, dynamics play a part as the song manages to balance strength and restraint, force and finesse, before finally going supernova once again. “Blinded BY Hate is taken at a pace and power that Motorhead would be proud to call their own as the singing is spitting blood over the furious drumming, the bass thunder and the bedrock of a million guitars, a mighty metal monster by anyone's standards. “A Change Of Mind” immediately scythes your head off with densely chiming guitars, riffing away across the musical panorama, as the rhythms are putting nails in your skull one by one, the whole thing juddering and lurching its unstoppable mid-paced metal pathway as this massive sounding epic of a song takes you where no other band takes you, the mastery of mixing dynamics, menace, force, invention and thunder all combined in one absolute gem of a song that's meant to be turned up to excruciating on the volume dial and wallowed in on a regular basis. The vocals then move right upfront as the pace accelerates and the band go full pelt into metal oblivion, taking you inexorably into the same black hole. The album proper ends with “Over” as ringing guitar sets the scene against delicate cymbals and more menacing vocals before the volcano erupts once again and another gem of a song takes you through a variety of paces and intensities that only this band could get away with and still lose none of the overt power that they wield so spectacularly. There's a “bonus” track in the form of “Take The Pain” only this time another take with guest death metal vocalist Phil on the choruses and it introduces even more of a roar to an already mighty track, well worth the inclusion.
So there you have it – a metal album like no other – so rarely has a solid metal band displayed such a use of dynamics in their music without sacrificing one bit of their strength and intensity, in the process unleashing a set of songs that are metal monsters at the same time as being the sort of thing you can listen to over and over again, the mark of what makes both a contemporary and future rock classic, only this time in a league of its own.

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