'Clowns' by Istvan

Friday, 16 October 2009 , 0 Comments

The interesting thing about Clowns the latest release from Montreal-based Istvan (Istvan Gyorffy) is how refreshingly vintage rock n' roll it sounds. I say refreshing becuase, unlike many of today's 60's and 70's revival bands who write and record songs with a purpose of emulating a vintage sound, Clowns sounds like a modern recording, but feels like an album that could have been released with great success in the 1970's Pink Floyd era. Through overall sound, songwriting style and the lyrical direction, Istvan has created genuine songs that combine the heavy hitting chords of early metal (Black Sabbath), the heavily effected palm-mute style rhythm guitar (Van Halen) and the strong melodies and harmonies with a lyrical focus on people, human nature and society (Pink Floyd)- after all, the title track is called Clowns, an obvious nod to people's behaviors today.

As a songwriter, Istvan really hits the mark here. The song-forms are very consistent; naturally progressing, leading to heavy hitting stop-and-go power chords, and catchy harmony filled chorus's. I found the layering used during the verses of each song to be very effective. A characteristic of Istvan's songs is that his verses use a very monotone bass line, palm muted (and very heavily distorted) rhythm guitar, some sort of a melodic line coming from a second guitar and a constant snare hit from the drums- all of these things are classic 70's metal. But it is really in the chorus's where we see some change- in fact everything seems to change here. The bass becomes much more syncopated, the vocals change from deep and heavy to light and well harmonized and the guitars join in unison. This change works very well to keep the hooks hitting as hard as possible.

It is very evident to me that Istvan knows very well what he is doing- nothing here is an accident or product of experimentation. Each riff and layer is well arranged with a specific style. But it is Istvan's use of accents that show his true talent. Whether it is the huge sounds of the synth that joins in beneath the big power chords, the high-end accent harmonies that surround the melody, or the use of acoustic guitar beneath the distorted rhythm guitar, allowing for more accessibility of each note, Istvan has really shown some mastery of Rock n' Roll.

In the end, Clowns by Istvan is really an album that anyone who is a fan of classic metal or classic hard rock should take a listen to. By using styles made famous by others and then adding his own feel to it, each song is easy to get in to- there is an aspect of this songwriting that feels familar, but only enough to make it enjoyable right off the bat, and not so much in an 'already been done' kind of way. These songs are, without a doubt, well written, well arranged, and most importantly well performed.