CLOUDKICKER — Portmanteau (review)

CLOUDKICKER — Portmanteau album cover EP · 2009 · Progressive Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
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.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hanga Sludge Metal
HANGA
Buy this album from MMA partners
A Chronicle Of Anguish Deathcore
TOUCH OF MALICE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Worldwide Sludge Metal
GRUEL
Buy this album from MMA partners
Matar Metalcore
2SONT
Buy this album from MMA partners
Wither//Without (Instrumental) Metalcore
IF I WERE YOU
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Shadow In Shade - With Vengeance (OMV)
SHADOW IN SHADE
Bosh66· 56 minutes ago
Shadow In Shade - Pray For Insanity (OMV)
SHADOW IN SHADE
Bosh66· 57 minutes ago
Shadow In Shade - Crystal Meth Video
SHADOW IN SHADE
Bosh66· 57 minutes ago
Mirrors - Running With Scissors (Official)
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS
Bosh66· 2 days ago
VARIA - SATURN VALLEY (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)
VARIA
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed