30 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Kasium - Premonition EP

28 Jul 2011 // A review by Peter-James Dries

I realise that Kasium’s self-produced Premonition EP was released a good three years ago, but it’s a release I thought I needed to draw attention to. I’m not sure why these guys haven't taken off more than they have, they have a lot riding for them; the dark look, the rock angst, the cultural commentary video.  Perhaps this age of ignorance is to blame, the fact that they’re a Kiwi band, or maybe the band would be better suited for 1999 when pop music didn't suck (if you tell me rock is dead, I’ll drop one on your foot).

The sound is self-described as post-grunge-alternative-rock, which is another way of describing the sound produced by bands who collectively listen to Tool, a Perfect Circle, Deftones, Korn and Marilyn Manson. I’d much prefer the term Nonchalant Rock; the music, with its complicated time signatures and distorted guitars are effortless, as if it is emanating out of the three Bogans wearing black and leaning on a building with their hands in their pockets, as opposed to being produced by them.

In many ways it sounds like Chevelle’s Point #1, in other ways it’s what Silverchair should have sounded like. Unlike Silverchair, Kasium hasn’t had a washed-out 90s producer stab their fatty hedonistic finger up their arse and turn them into a pop puppet.

Drowned has quite a bright tone for such a gloomy track. It starts of quiet then alternates between quiet patches of subdued bass and guitar and alternative rock guitar riffs. The voice is a cross between Marilyn Manson’s Brian Warner when he’s not being a tool and Simon Oakes from Peach. There are pieces of the song that feel a lot like Tool’s ‘46&2’ and System of a Down’s ‘Spiders.’

Fear of flying is a melancholic Nirvana toned guitar and Incubus voices. The chorus is more Marilyn Manson in the spooky kids days and Alice in Chains riffagry. The song fluctuates between cold silence and the dirty heavy grunge of distorted guitars. For the most part you either feel down or beaten down, with the only high point being the Pearl Jam-esque closing lines.

Classic grunge gives way to alt rock in ‘Closing my Eyes,’ one of the more Korn-inspired moments on the EP, with Kieran’s voice sounding more than a little like the legendary Jonathan Davis at times.
 The earworm in the addictive refrain is sure to repeat long after the song is over.

Another Nirvana moment in the opening of ‘All Alone,’ the vocals edging closer to Scotty Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots. The Nirvana picking turns momentarily into a Perfect Circle riffing and rhythm before fading back into the next verse.

While the EP is cohesive and easily digestible, Bubblegum is the albums outlier. This is not to discredit the song. It’s epic in the same way Tool’s ‘Third Eye’ is epic. Long, complicated and experimental as fuck.

The album is hollow and desolate, which is most of the appeal. It’s something to enjoy through headphones in a dark room during an introspective, angst-ridden mood. For the right person it’s something to enjoy over a bowl of coco-pops before heading off to university, or your job at the local supermarket. Look out for the new album from these guys, tentatively slated for the later half of 2011, or if you’re looking from something different try Kieran’s solo work on ReverbNation or Bandcamp. And above all else, spread the word; it’s well worth the listen. 

Premonition EP
View Track Listing
 

About Kasium

Kasium is Kieran Cooper, Chris Birch & Paul Braddock playing a unique brand of post-grunge-alternative-rock. Formed in 2008 in Auckland, New Zealand, the 3 piece have written and recorded their debut EP 'Premonition' and produced a video for the track 'Drowned'. Currently working on a full length studio album with new material and an evolving sound. This has all been interspersed with numerous live shows for of a growing and appreciative audience




Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Kasium

Releases

Exhale
Year: 2011
Type: Album
Premonition EP
Year: 2009
Type: EP

Other Reviews By Peter-James Dries

Yann Le Dorré - Album Review: The Circus is Closed
19 Dec 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
“We are Sex Bob-Omb and we're here to make you think about death and get sad and stuff!” - Scott Pilgrim vs.
Read More...
Sanoi - Album Review: Echoes Of Home
25 Nov 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Electronica offers no escapism for me. It’s more of what I already have.
Read More...
Throng - EP Review: Decoherence
20 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
You know that thing where the letter B has a personality, or words have textures and colours? That’s called synaesthesia.
Read More...
Fortress Europe - Album Review: Old World
10 Oct 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Have you ever been torn between listening to Mozart or Periphery? Does Epica have too much of that darn singing for your tastes?
Read More...
Yurt Party - Album Review: Yurt Party
07 Sep 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
It sure isn't summer, and this is really not the Balkans, but Yurt Party’s new self-titled album refutes that. Back with another one of them Balkan rocking beats, Yurt Party’s debut is jazzy, erratic, and full of zest and energetic grooves, with flavour notes of ska, dub, and bergamot.
Read More...
day13n - Album Review: /7/13/7/
06 Aug 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
I’m too old for this world. We’ve devolved to the point where music is only as good as the soundtrack to your 10 second TikTok, and the thirty thousand copies recycling the idea.
Read More...
The New Existentialists - Single Review: Invocation
16 Jul 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
The New Existentialists, a doom metal band known for their dark and atmospheric soundscapes, have just… Wait a minute… No. The New Existentialists are really not a doom metal band, and they’re really not known for their dark soundscapes… They’re more known as stalwarts of a bygone era.
Read More...
Samuel Philip Cooper - Album Review: Journey to Sobriety
01 Jun 2023 // by Peter-James Dries
Samuel Philip Cooper sits on the brink of social media stardom, with videos of his belting out pop music piano covers from behind a pair of thick spectacles racking up views and likes on Insta. Little do any of the mindless doom scrollers swiping through his reels know, but percolating behind his eye brows is the very key to their very salvation.
Read More...
View All Articles By Peter-James Dries

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem