Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

MeO - Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse [Wallace Records/Conrad Sound - 2016]

I think what I have before me is a promo pack, consisting of the CD, and an insert - there’s no track-listing as such. Anyway, the pro CD has six tracks of muscular rock, performed by a conventional trio: Guro Skumsnes Moe - bass/vocals, Håvard Skaset - guitar, and Joakim Heibø Johansen - drums. This line-up is aided and abetted along the way, not least by Pain Jerk on a few tracks. (For a further noise connection, the cover design is by Lasse Marhaug.) The six tracks present a dark, metallic take on noise rock.

The band shares its name with Guro Skumsnes Moe, and I assume that the project is driven by her. Certainly, Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse feels bass-led, and indeed, perhaps MoE are at their finest when they strip back the sound to Moe’s hard, spidery riffs. Her playing throughout is clean and intelligent, which might also serve as reasonable descriptions of the band as a whole - though both these serve to somewhat counteract the potential noise and abrasion that MoE might otherwise whip up. MoE are undoubtedly noisy, but this never really amounts to any great abrasion - even with the presence of Kohei Gomi (Pain Jerk). The production is powerful, but also clean, and this reflects the playing too. Skaset’s guitar is dissonant, but often restrained, and Johansen’s drumming is very solid, with a few unusual fills and moves; but neither these, nor Moe’s bass, ever really cut loose or fully overload the listener. The album is perhaps more overwhelmingly dark, calculated, and brooding, than violent.

The album has a few tensions like this. For example, it starts with an impressively epic riff, before being joined by vocals, and my immediate impression was that Moe’s singing (which ranges from strained snarls to almost child-like whispers) was somewhat dwarfed by its surroundings. Repeated listens have warmed me to her voice though, and there are moments - the latter section of Saccades And Fixations, for example - where voice and instruments come together in a gnarled skree. The following track, Paris, sets out a Melt Banana-esque stall, where Moe’s vocals seem more at home. (It also has a repeated passage which would appear to pay homage to the great Voivod, jerkily looping and discordant, even containing a repeated cry of ‘Where are we all going?’, which feels like a Voivod lyric.)

I must admit that my first listens to Examination Of The Eye Of A Horse were a tad indifferent, but it has unravelled to be an enjoyable album. The overall atmosphere is dark and doom-laden - indeed, some of the riffs approach the lumbering doom of a band like High On Fire - but there are also more frenetic sections, and indeed songs (e.g. Paris). Alongside this muscular dread, MoE are also undeniably quirky - though the faux-rock passages in Doll’s Eyes are not entirely convincing. As mentioned above, they seem most effective in the sections which strip back to concentrate on bass-driven dirge atmospheres. I do think that live, MoE would be an impressive onslaught.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Martin P
Latest Reviews

MeO - Examination Of The Eye Of A...
I think what I have before me is a promo pack, consisting of the CD, and an insert - there’s no track-listing as such. Anyway, the pro CD has six tracks of m...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
220324   Patrick - Patrick( UHD/ Blu Ray)
220324   Dadawah - Peace And Love
Latest Articles

Sutcliffe No More - Normal Everyd...
Sutcliffe No More are a British two-piece bringing together Kevin Tomkins & Paul Taylor. Formed in 2021, it’s the spin-off project/ next sonic step...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
050523   Bill Morroni - The Trials & ...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom