Fusing the odd-timed kind of Meshuggah riffs with a more metal approach, ALOL tends to sound like another currently succesfull band, namely Lamb of God. The fact that vocalist Robert Meadows sounds like higher pitched version of Randy Blythe only adds to the coincidence. I make this band sound like a rip-off, but fortunatly they are not. ALOL's blend of heavy groove riffs together with the hypnotic Meshuggah type of riffing creates an almost hallucinating expierence. There is very little melody to be found on this cd besides the occasional guitarsolo, such as the one in "Pain & Panic".
The biggest problem I have with this cd is that tempowise, most songs are very close to eachother, and each have just a bunch of riffs going on. Things can get very repetetive. But if that's your cup of tea, you could easily add 10 points to this review. It's just that I hoped to get a bit more diverse guitarplaying, since a lot of the riffs operate on the same basic ideas and rhythmical tricks. This is why one of my favorite tracks on this record is the short instrumental "Salai", which has a broody buildup, while maintaining an industrial atmosphere thanks to some well placed synths. If some songs had passages like this, the music would be much more interesting to keep your attention with. Props go to Paul Romano, the cover art of this record suits the music very well. Most covers are pretty bland but this one caught my eye.
If you are unfamiliar with the band, I suggest to check out the earlier mentioned "Pain & Panic" and the opener "Rehashed". That last one is a good summary of what you can expect from this cd, it's basically a blueprint for some of the other songs because of the riffs, drumming and vocalstyle.
Hunter is one of the heavier records you'll find this year. If you dig any of the bands mentioned above, check out this record since you will probably find some good mileage out of it.
