Process Of Guilt - Erosion

(30 Apr 2011)

More and more do I get the impression that Portugal is too apathetic towards music. There's musical talent spread throughout the country like a cancer, stuff that could compete worldwide, stuff that could be considered venerable worldwide, would people for a second stop complaining about what they don't have and start giving the humblest fuck about the music scene here. How does a motherfucking COVER BAND get praise in a national talent contest by playing mediocre versions of music found in "1001 Rock Songs You Must Hear Before You Die" books, when we have bands like Process Of Guilt? So what that the cover band consists of 14 year-olds? It doesn't change the fact that they are insulting people who try to be more than a living jukebox with every time they play a badly constructed medley of "Smells Like Teen Spirit", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Stairway to Heaven" and "Enter Sandman" to much applause and ignorant perfectly-white-teethed smiles.

Still, there's hope for a brighter future, with labels such as Major Label Industries releasing some very promising, forward-thinking-enough-for-evolution-but-accessible-enough-for-a-mainstream-audience music. This is another very good album by the label. Process Of Guilt is, in my opinion, the best band in Portugal as of now, and Erosion does not fail to impress, hitting the ground running with "Dust (The Circle Part I)", which is probably the best song in the album, before going through a series of ups and downs, never again to reach the utter perfection of the first track, but still maintaining a consistent level of quality.

"Dust" introduces us to the sound of the album, which is kind of like a blend of Doom Metal and Post-Metal that works really well to create a very atmospheric sound filled with emotion, all helped by an amazing organic production job. This is probably the warmest, most humid album I've heard yet. If you want huge guitars, cavernous drums, destructive bass and all that, look somewhere else. This is dark, damp and small in size. The album progresses through different moods, ranging from depression, determination, hopefulness, happiness, anger, as well as some others. Still, I prefer this album at its most mournful moments, as the others seem to me as quite generic.

Erosion is an accessible album that provides immediate gratification, but also manages to keep one interested after repeated listens. Hopefully albums like this can make people realize that music is alive and well. Still, it doesn't live up to its own potential. It had some divine moments, but they were mixed with a lot of negligible ones. I now love the band, though.

Standout tracks:

Dust (The Circle Part I)
Corrosion (The Circle Part III)
Abandon (The Circle Part V)
The Circle (Erosion Part I)