Vacuum Horror - Town Portal

     Vacuum Horror starts off on a slow note with the lazy, brilliantly sloppy riffs of "Rosini", punctuated with steely chords that loan some light to a song that otherwise sounds like the apathetic guitar rambling of two funk guitarists and a bassist. The album immediately mixes things up and awkwardly jumps into the airy, indie pop verses and thrash refrains of "Steaming Scrolls". "Segway" continues along with the light, laid back melodies until the next change-up, "Salut". Regrettably, this takes the album to a stall while "Salut" starts to re-use sounds and ideas from the introductory song. This does nothing to innovate within the album other than incorporating material from the previous three songs. After the Funk breakdown at the end of "Salut" finally cuts out, the album takes its last breath with its fifth song, "Drastic Insight", a classic rock / funk hybrid based on down tuned hard rock riffs and a jazzy interlude that suits the song surprisingly well. As soon as this song stops however, the album dies with "Phantom Time", which is essentially a continuation of the song "Salut" from earlier in the album. While "Salut" was an alright song in and of itself, it went a step further than most repetitive (and really any) album in that it reused song and riff pieces, and not just musical style (which almost any album with a clear focus is guilty of).

7/10

http://townportal.bandcamp.com/