Pulseve — Magnet
Contrary to discogs' classification, this album is only 'mathy' on its surface, and is actually quite repetitive and simple, structurally. Their flowing, driving grooves are in identifiable meters like 3/4 and 5/4, and there are only a few riffs per track, predictably alternated with few changes made over the course of the song. Mostly, they syncopate their rhythm using tricks that have already been digested into the typical nu metal / alt rock musical language: staccato chords, sudden stops and starts, and unison guitar/kick drum triplets. In fact, it's quite easy to imagine overwrought Breaking Benjamin style vocals over this music.
On the other hand, there is a subtle finesse and confidence at work here. Like jazz musicians (which quite possibly they are), they mask the complexity/difficulty of what they do. The drummer plays with a heavy, precise gravity, an unshakeable sense of time that could anchor any band firmly in a groove. He's the kind of musician who could really drive a point home at the climax of a great song.
Unfortunately, none of these 4 songs have climaxes, or build much momentum of any kind, not to mention being virtually interchangeable. To my ears, these musicians are restraining themselves to a fault. The bass player, responsible for all melodic and emotional development within the songs, contributes a lot of fusion-esque chord structures and mood: contemplative, mysterious and quasi-melancholic, and thus the first few minutes of each piece introduce some great melodies. However, they are often run into the ground in the second half. It becomes clear that the bass player either doesn't have the chops or simply lacks the motivation for varying/developing the riffs structures or soloing, two things that would have undermined the monotony.
Unlike in the case of my favorite drum/bass duos (Ruins, Schnaak, etc.), the bass just doesn't fill in all the empty space here, and the skeletal songs just do not have enough substance or diversity, even though careful listening reveals the bass is likely double tracked to allow additional harmonies. The form of repetition they've employed is not droning or hypnotic, rather it leads the listener to expect a climax than never comes.
The duo doesn't quite have the ferocity to pull off the heavier, distorted passages either, and so these parts have a bland optimistic feeling, but not much real intensity or power. The quietest sections are when the band seems most comfortable being themselves: the bass tone rings out liquid and ambient, the groove becomes more immersive and chilled, and the rigidity of the music seems to relax a little bit.
My enjoyment of these parts indicates to me that maybe the band should try jamming out for extended periods, and really letting themselves loosen up. Freed from the confines of these metric, repetitions, perhaps their intuitions could lead them on a real musical narrative. As it is, this music becomes unengaging and I tune it out after a while. One doesn't notice when the track switches, hell, I often don't notice when the album restarts! I would recommend getting a vocalist, but as I mentioned earlier that could easily just accent the cheesiness of what they're doing. I can't really recommend this album, but I'd love to hear these 2 playing in a larger ensemble, with someone else writing the music.