SINCE BY MAN — Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse (review)

SINCE BY MAN — Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse album cover

Album · 2005 · Mathcore

3.5/5 · 2025-01-11
Vim Fuego

Former New Zealand rugby captain Sean Fitzpatrick was the master of the sporting cliché. When it came to press conferences, the All Black captain had a list of stock phrases he would roll out time and time again, which ultimately told you very little about the match, but not that it mattered, because the All Blacks usually won anyway. One of Fitzy’s favourites was “It was a game of two halves.”

This blindingly obvious observation meant the team had performed to a different level in each 40 minute stretch of the game, usually starting indifferently, and then getting their act together in the second half to annihilate the opposition. This analogy fits SinceByMan’s ‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ perfectly.

‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ starts with a leaning toward the mediocre. “Emergency And Me” isn’t the worst Metalcore song you’re ever likely to hear, but it hardly sets the world on fire. Its feel of urban alienation is a little different to the norm, but otherwise, fairly standard stuff- not particularly heavy, a bit angsty, a bit melodic, a bit average.

The standard set, SinceByMan sleepwalk through the next three songs, all of which pique a little interest, but nothing to blow you away. The end result is left hanging in the balance.

But then, the team left the field, received an absolute bollocking from the coach, dosed up on energy drinks, and then hit the field with a new resolve and sense of purpose. Switching from Metalcore’s suffocating standard, SinceByMan take a step to the left field from “Match On Action” onward. The intensity is cranked up, imagination and inventiveness are let loose, and the inspiration flows.

SinceByMan enter the space generally occupied by the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan and Soilent Green, a space where logic becomes chaos, and categorisation is discarded. Sure, this isn’t as chaotic as Dillinger Escape Plan, nor as heavy as Soilent Green, but you’ll find heavily syncopated rhythms, spinning riffs, discordant solos, and plain old fucking with the boundaries of music. Laid back acoustic sections add contrast, as does the heavy Dub intro to the electronically deconstructed “Binary Heart Attack”. “Quid Pro Quo Motherfucker” introduces female vocals, creating breakdowns which sound like Atari Teenage Riot on steroids. “Photographer Ex Post Facto” starts with a riff which sounds like Faith No More’s “Woodpecker From Mars”, but soon twists into something far more dangerous.

This album becomes a tumbling kaleidoscope of jarring guitars, stark contrasts, off kilter percussion, electronic drones, and a conglomeration of concepts. ‘Pictures From The Hotel Apocalypse’ is like a shallow dip into madness, without descending to the full on schizoid paranoia of Dillinger Escape Plan or Neurosis. It’s not a world-beater yet, but SinceByMan are heading in the right direction. So, as Fitzy would have said, thanks to the ladies for the afternoon tea, full credit to the opposition, and rugby… er, music was the winner on the day.