Conor Fynes
'Portmanteau' - Cloudkicker (8/10)
While the feature length offering probably takes the cake in terms of being Cloudkicker's brightest and most fulfilling effort, 'Portmanteau' was definitely the one that knocked me off of my feet the fastest. While the brevity of this EP and the others make it feel like it's not worth being treated as an independent work, 'Portmanteau' actually ends up functioning as an epic piece of sorts, much like Meshuggah's 'I' EP. While the recording is broken up into four different songs, they end up complimenting each other as sections of the bigger 'Portmanteau' suite. Each track flows seamlessly into one other, and this ends up being one of the Extended Play's biggest achievements.
Starting out with an almost shamanistic percussive approach, it soon bursts out into the typical polyrhythmic fury those with Cloudkicker experience have come to expect already. The difference here is that throughout, while the overall cohesion and writing is some of the best this project has ever released, the dense wall of sound can make some of the already-heavy sections sound a bit noisy. In the more melodic-metal sections though, the massive layerings of sound can lend a bit of a Devin Townsend feel to the music, which only adds.
The highlight here is definitely the second track; 'Modulator/Demodulator' which also tends to be the most diverse track. There is the typical rhythmic experimenting, but it starts out with one of the most beautiful post rock intros I have listened to in a while. The density of the record might prove to be a bit of a downer for some; especially those who thought that Cloudkicker was too chaotic to begin with! This is evidence though, of Ben Sharp's willingness to expand his boundaries and try out new things with his talent. To my ears, this was a successful experiment, and a very good (if flawed) testmament to his skill.