SPC ECO - Calm
DL
Out Now
8 / 10
Review by Ruune.
In my heart, I love what nu-metal was going for. Especially the side of it that was full of super powerful bold non-men singing their hearts out backed by industrial inspired beats, ambient chords, and clashy metal riffs. But I think one of the reasons it is looked at as a guilty pleasure or cringey flashback is because as a genre it never quite lived up to the aesthetic or standard it was setting for itself. Now, I am not saying by any means at SPC ECO’s “Calm” is a nu-metal record, but to me it definitely fills all the gaps and voids that I wish the radio were sending me when I was 17, and really even now.
SPC ECO is, if anything else, a sound technician project. The whole record has very strong songwriting, but what sets it apart is that they really use the experimental side of “pop” to tear apart every single solitary *sound* that they can find, and weave and tug and pull them back together to create an album that not only has accessibility in mind but is also a masterpiece in textures. One minute you are listening to a lo-fi grungey Tori Amos song, and then the next you are hit with Explosions In The Sky, and the next you are surrounded by some of the more drawn out sounds of Skinny Puppy. Everything is smoothed over in the end though, and tied together by the vocalists amazing, ariel, astral vocals. You have to really dig to find the influences because it is all put together so cohesively, and with its own taste. Probably what I am hearing you will not hear: you will instead find your own footholds to listen on. That is what makes this record so accessible, is its ability for anyone to find their past and present in.
“Calm” by SPC ECO is dramatic, it is theatrical, it is spacey and light. Instead of crunchy guitars, they are soaring and clangy. This album is amazing, and I can’t wait to hear more.
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