UMUR
"Vertigo" is the second full-length studio album by Swedish metal act Memfis. The album was independently released in October 2011. It´s the successor to "The Wind-Up" from 2006. There have been two lineup changes since the predecessor as guitarist/vocalist Johan Boqvist has been replaced by Daniel Götstedt and bassist Christian Öhberg has been replaced by Henrik Hedelund. "Vertigo" was actually recorded in 2008, but as a consequence of a longer legal battle with Memfis former label, they weren´t able to release "Vertigo" until 2011. At that point they were done with record labels, and therefore opted to self-release "Vertigo".
Just as the case was on "The Wind-Up", Memfis play a pretty eclectic type of hardcore/metal on "Vertigo". Post-hardcore, metalcore, technical death/sludge (not completely unlike listening to early Mastodon), and progressive metal songwriting coplexity are some of the ingredients of the band´s sound. Contemporary Swedish act Burst is the most valid reference to my ears, but Memfis as described take influences from a lot of different sources. The vocals are predominantly aggressive hardcore shouting/screaming, but the album also features clean vocal sections. The musicianship is on a high level on all posts and it´s audible that Memfis is a well playing and skilled unit.
The diversity of the output and the intriguing songwriting, which make the music a bit difficult to properly describe, are great assets of "Vertigo" and keep the listener on his/her toes for the duration of the album. The unpredictability within otherwise relatively regular length songs is not the least bit confusing though, as Memfis seamlessly weave all the elements together into a cohesive musical style. Featuring a professional, powerful, and detailed sound production that part of the album is also an asset. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
