CoC : Vuvr - Pilgrimage : Review

Vuvr - _Pilgrimage_
(Shindy, 2001)
by: Brian Meloon (8 out of 10)

The Czech Republic's Vuvr play a unique jazz/metal hybrid. Their jazzy parts bring to mind Candiria, Cynic and Atheist, though their sound is much more diverse, including such questionable elements as funky bass lines and what I'll call -- for lack of a better term -- "lounge jazz". Their metallic parts sound like a cross between a toned-down version of Dissonance (Slo) and Voivod's _Nothingface_. Their riffs are angular, and the music changes frequently. Not only do the riffs change often, but when they don't completely change, their presentation changes: a guitar changes to a harmony or a counterpoint line, the picking style changes, etc. Only very rarely do the band settle down and play the same riff exactly the same way for more than a few seconds. Unfortunately, the integration between their two styles isn't as tight as it could be. In that way, they're very similar to Candiria's _Surrealistic Madness_: several purely jazzy songs and several heavy songs with slight jazz influence. The vocals are mostly growled, but vocal parts are few and far between, as this album is heavily focused on music. The production and playing are top notch, and the packaging is more than adequate. This is an interesting album, even if it isn't a completely successful one. However, fans of jazz/metal hybrids will find this a worthy and unique part of the genre.

(article published 14/1/2002)