Into The Moat The Design

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Reviewed by: Ash Levitt   //   Published: 4/9/2005

So tech is the big thing, huh Greased lightning guitar riffs; chaotic drums; odd weavings of time signatures; countless new bands trying to make their post-Dillinger mark, from Psyopus to Bodies in the Gears of the Apparatus. Well, some do it well, and some don't (obvious statement, I know). But that needs to be understood and repeated in this so called subgenre of aggressive music. Because in the end, most of the "tech" bands' songwriting is completely worthless. Piecemeal collections of look-how-fast-and-complicated-we-can-play recordings do not necessarily make good albums or even good songs.The bands that have the ability to do this kind of music while still retaining some semblance of cohesiveness are few and far between.

Into the Moat is one such band, and what they offer is a more palatable, connected form of tech that can get stuck in the listener's head without being overly catchy or kitschy. Their newest release, The Design, starts off plainly enough with a simple hardcore-esque breakdown/intro. Then the listener notices an abrupt shift as time signatures are readily played with. When the band goes into the first actual track on the recording, all hell breaks loose. The first noticeable aspect of Into the Moat is how tightly the members of the band play together. Without getting into the pointless argument of "you don't like it because you don't understand it", this is truly complicated music. With each listen comes subtle little details that were lost or just plain missed the first few listens. The drumming is very tasteful even though blast beats and speed abound. The guitars and bass complement each other well whether they are playing a slow chugging mini-breakdown or a clean jazz interlude. The vocals and overall styling of the band is reminiscent of older era Dillinger or a more spastic version of Coalesce.

Bottom Line: In the end, whether you love tech or hate it, Into the Moat write good music with good song structures. The Design is a listenable album that the listener will return to. The stellar production (by Erik Rutan) also makes this all the better since the output is big and pounding. If chaotic music is your bag, then this will please you no matter what kind of aggressive music is your preference.

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