Metalcore is one of those styles of music that when it is done well it can be something spectacular but when it does badly, by God it can be embarrassingly bad. Here we have Bristol natives Koshiro with their new EP Crown Of Venom and we are happy to say they have avoided the latter.
The EP opens in a quite unexpected manner with the atmospheric ‘Green & Gold’. A track made up of basic key chords and a vocal. The first thing you realise is that this band have a vocalist with a strong set of pipes, it is also the calm before the storm as this is followed up by the EP title track which heads into more metalcore by numbers territory. The saving grace here though is that the band have a very English sound to them, sure the more aggressive vocal can sound a little cheesy at certain points but it does it’s job well and you kind of expect that in this genre anyway so in no way is that a criticism.
‘Necromancer’ opens the EP up with an awesome slab of heaviness and speed, the music also splashed with splices of electronics it’s an all round killer track. The verses at points sound a little like Snot but the band once again throw in their own flourish with their ear for writing strong pop laden choruses. It is a similar feel that continues into ‘Sleeper Cell’ and it is here where the band are really starting to show off their strengths. The band wear their influences on their sleeves but they are arranged in such a manner that the band are able to create their own identity, not an easy task in a genre that is pretty packed with average soundalikes.
Is that Michael Caine doing the spoken word opening to ‘Creation Theory’? probably not but it is a nice intro to a track which has a much more theatrical taste to it. It is at this point in the EP you work out the bands pattern and really realise that Koshiro may be onto something special here. ‘Catharsis’ comes in like a band well beyond their years, starting as a lighters in the air builder. The band show another side to them and it is refreshing on the ears. It goes of and grows into something quite epic, this could be the track to set them apart from others in the field. It shows that this band has more layers than most and dont just put their heads down and charge in, they have ideas.
The EP closes with a bonus track, a cover version of the Sia track ‘Chandelier’, it sounds fine enough but probably would of been better on a Pop Goes Punk Compilation. It just sounds a little out of place here, the production isn’t up to the calibre of the rest of the EP but that is neither here nor there. All in all Koshiro have produced a strong EP here and we look forward to watching where they go from here.
