Bear vs. Rhino
Vulture Song
Release Date 10th July 2014
London Alt-Metal 3 piece Bear vs Rhino have recently released their new EP ‘Vulture Song’, the summation of 18 months working and gigging together as a band. Recorded in a shipping container in a parking lot in Aldgate East and the basement of a wine and spirits store, these boys took their DIY attitude to a very serious level by mixing and mastering their own tracks and creating their own artwork. With influences from the likes of Reuben, Deftones and Biffy Clyro among others, these guys have produced a raw alt-rock EP with a grungy attitude and metal afflictions.
The DIY aesthetic makes itself known from the off on ‘Beck Up, Beck Up’ where there are raw sounds and a slightly jagged edge to everything from the guitar strums, the screaming vocals and the cymbal crashes. Guitars wail, drums crash and vocals go from a slightly menacing tone in the verses to screaming in the choruses. Pre-final chorus screams give the same effect as a child’s tantrum, loud, unnecessary and doesn’t make much sense, before a chaotic ending which sees the pace quicken and everything gain a sense of urgency.
A steady bass line bring us in to ‘Milli80seconds:publicist’ while little intricate guitar riffs slot their way throughout. When the vocals come in they have that menacing tone again before screams and hard hit percussion take over only grounded by that consistent bass line. Whereas, ‘A letter to my brother and sister, fuck him, he doesn’t know what paracetmol is’ is full of angular guitar that builds and builds alongside spoken vocals that have a Johnny Rotten style lilt to them. After that the track goes a little downhill with repeated strained lyrics and a tempo that changes from fast paced alt-rock with spiky riffs and pounding drums to slightly uninteresting background filler.
Blood curdling screams are backed up with fast paced drums, dancing cymbals and a slightly bleary guitar for ‘If it looks dead and it smells dead, it’s probably fucking dead’. The punk nonchalant attitude of the shouted vocals is a great moment in this track but it just doesn’t marry up well against those death metal screams.
Final track ‘Daisychain’ opens with deep chugging bass and a dirty fuzzy guitar before thumping drum beats and hi-hat clatters join the fore. The vocals retain that anger and malice through shouts and screams giving a very visceral, in your face nature to not only this track but the entire EP.
You can download the EP from their Bandcamp page now for whatever price you would like. and you can check it out for yourself below:
To find out more about Bear vs. Rhino visit their Tumblr page, their Facebook page, their YouTube page or you can follow them on Twitter – @BearVSRhino
Credits
– EP Cover
Mixtape Couture 