from Indieville's Top 20 of 2002
| 7. Fiesel -- The Ruins of This Life (Losing Blueprint) Oh man. I was blown away by their debut EP a while back. I didn't think it could get much better than that. And while The Ruins of this Life is a very different release, it just proves that Fiesel can hold up perfectly when given a larger canvas to work with. Angular, abrasive, yet immediately accessible, this could be one of this year's best debut albums. 2002 saw the release of many well-publicized albums by many well-known bands. With all the Flaming Lips robots, all the Interpol art-rockers, and all the Wilco cowboys, it was easy to ignore what was coming out on the smaller labels. And it's for this reason that such a terrific album as Fiesel's full-length debut, The Ruins of This Life, goes unnoticed. But, fortunately, I had been anxiously awaiting this release for ages. Why? Because I was one of the noble few who had had the pleasure of experiencing Fiesel's turbulent debut ep, a release so excruciatingly powerful that I found it hard not to break into severely spasmodic dancing every time I heard it. But when I first heard The Ruins of This Life, I was a little pissed off. Fiesel had changed - instead of crafting those short, mind-blowingly angular rock nuggets that I had fallen in love with, they had produced a full album out of seven, much more lengthy tunes. I had been betrayed! All I had looked forward to for the past year was dashed to pieces! But then, I listened. I listened to the power of "Better Days Will Come," which starts off quietly, and then suddenly rockets into an explosive, energetic rock song. I listened to the epileptic drums and abused, out-of-control guitar strings of "Coin Return" being smashed to pieces in absolute chaos. I listened. I listened and my initial complaints slowly died out. By the time the cluttering feedback on "Black as Midnight on a Moonless Night / Cold Hardwood Floor" slowly faded away, allowing a brief little calm bit to surface amidst the chaos, I was in complete musical ecstasy. Nothing really mattered anymore, the music was all that was relevant at that point in time. And it's moments like these that make The Ruins of This Life so amazing. The intense, explosive chaos that Fiesel creates is absolutely terrific. On a track like "Crime of the Century," they turn thirteen minutes into a jerky, spasmodically changing jolt of sound and energy. The drums aren't satisfied to find one specific beat, instead they are pounded in a seemingly uncontrolled - yet solidly rhythmic - manner. The guitars, on the other hand, build tension by short, repeated fragments, only to be blown away in a haze of feedback and angularity - chords are turned upside, flipside, rightside, leftside, and underside, and frantic waves of axe noise are draped over the listener relentlessly. Your head is pummeled without remorse - by the end of it all, you're left in such a state that you can no longer think straight. And though, at times, the band does cool things down a bit, they manage to end the piece in messy, feedback-drenched climax, only to shoot right into "Choke," a one minute throwback to the style the exhibited on their ep. The last thing we hear on the album is all the band members letting out a mutual "UGH!" Classy. Fiesel are one of my favourite new rock outfits to surface in a long time. Making their way through the most impossible time measures, handling absolute guitar chaos as if it was nothing, while still remaining a zest for melody and tunefulness, these musicians perfectly embody what it means to be rock. Call it experimental, call it math rock, call if what ever the fuck you'd like - Fiesel are one of the freshest bands around today, and The Ruins of This Life is an album I sincerely suggest you buy. -- Matt Shimmer |
from The Noise
| The Ruins Of This Life is not for the faint of heart or the musically unadventurous. Fiesel's wildly dissonant to subtly melodic release features songs (I wouldn't exactly call each track a song, but rather an aural mural) that appear to be without form or structure, yet upon further listening, it becomes stunningly apparent that each bar is meticulously arranged. Well placed yelling spices up enlightened Henry Rollins/ Charles Bukowski-esque spoken word lyrics/ poetry. Akin to the emerging local concept band Smorgasbord, this CD features superior musicianship and complex time changes. These Turkish Delight heirs apparent aren't afraid to hide their Sonic Youth, King Crimson, Rush, and Tool influences, but more importantly, have evolved beyond them. Don't look for a hit song-you won't find it, but for Fiesel, that is a good thing. Fiesel does not provide sonic wallpaper. Their music needs to be listened to, not heard. You wouldn't want them to compromise their art with something as superfluous as a hit. (Marc Friedman) |
from Northeast Performer
| "Angular guitars, fuzzy melodic bass, thundering drums and acerbic harmonies = Fiesel." This is how Losing Blueprint describes The Ruins of this Life, the debut full-length from Fiesel, and that is about as simply as anyone could put it. "Better Days Will Come" opens things up with a little slice of mayhem. You'll find elements of everything from rock, to metal, to jazz, and within seconds the song can switch from catchy melodies that stick with you to the sort of chaotic math rock noise that will have you reaching over to turn down the volume knob. Vocally, the song features mumbled spoken word segments, as well as vaguely decipherable screams, with very little in between, and the guitar work follows a similar pattern. The rhythms are perhaps the most impressive element, as they manage to be spastic yet somehow controlled all at once, and simple grooves are as common as breakneck post-rock craziness. "A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere" takes a similar approach, so similar in fact that you can go back and reread the description of the song before it and apply it here. But it turns out to be the better choice of the two tracks, thanks to a lack of focus on the vocals, and some truly amazing drum solos. From there you will not find many departures from what has already been described. Fans of noisy rock will not be disappointed by the excellent blend of imaginative rhythms, jarring guitars, scream-along vocals, and even a hint of pretty melody. In comparison to the band's previous work, Fiesel seems to have settled into a groove this time around. They tend to worry less about the technical aspects of things and more on simply rocking out and seeing what happens. But it is not for those with a short attention span, as the shortest songs run around five minutes, and the longest clock in at over fifteen. -- Eddie Fournier |
from Lost At Sea
| If one were to judge by the sepia design and title of Fiesel's first full-length, they might think this is an album of folksy trad-rock or an acoustic singer-songwriter album. The song titles have that feel, too; "Better Days Will Come," "Coin Return," "Crime of the Century." Such a listener would be wrong. They would also be surprised to find that this is actually noisy, mathy rock. There are no slide guitars or mandolins here; just lots of dissonant, clashing rock. "A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere," with its noisy stop- starts and spoken vocal sections, sounds like Slint at their loudest. "Coin Return"'s spastic guitar freak out would be a kick to see live. As it is, this is a hard sell. Even well- performed math rock (which this is) can easily come across as being very impersonal and static, which is why many people, for example, would rather listen to passionately played blues than expertly played jazz. Occasionally, bits and pieces of melodic phrases seem to push up through the pounding drums and grumbling bass, only to wither under an overcast cloud of noise. This is what really makes this album, and others like it, an acquired taste; some will enjoy listening for these quick little moments, while others will be frustrated by the lack of intelligible vocals or familiar song structures. -- Erick Bieritz |
from Wormtown.org
| PART 1: So how much noise can a three piece make? Following in the footsteps of Frodus and Shellac, Fiesel do their damnedest to find out. The opener "Better Days Will Come" is a five minute opus that spends the first few minute sifting through some heavy dynamic changes that run from European death metal into Rush like math rock, before settling into a rhythmic run of clanging guitars and shouted out lyrics. At the song's apex, all three members are shouting "Please be still and quiet, I can't hear you thinking." If you're a fan of noisy music, (i.e. Black Army Jacket or Dillinger Escape Plan) you'll want to scream along too. Previous Fiesel releases were a little dry and more concerned with technicality than with rocking, but on this record, Fiesel has found its groove and probably isn't even afraid to admit it. "A Lot can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere" takes a while to get to it's central theme, then pummels the listener over the head with speedy drums, a squall of angular guitars, and stop-start time changes in between. This Fiesel disc is not for the impatient. Their short songs run five minutes. Their longest, like the record ending epic "Crime of the Century" run over fifteen minutes. "Coin Return" is a basic primal drum bass jam that the guitar player builds on until the speed and intensity get cranked into chaos. "Black as Midnight on a Moonless Night" is one of those patience testing songs. I believe "ambient" is the nice word for it. It's most emblematic of how Fiesel is an acquired taste. One man's abstract genius is another's pointless noodling. The blasts of intensity they put in the middle of these songs make it worth the wait, though I often found myself saying, "Get on with it guys, I was diggin' the screamin' along part." Fiesel is reaching for an aesthetic on, "The Ruins of this Life"; from the Edgar Allen Poe-ish title, from the artwork of a small town family in 1950s rural America, from their tragedy laden lyrics and their cathartic screams, I get the impression that they're not happy guys. Playing with a fury and screaming it out of their system seem to be their only recourse. It works for me. If you're attracted to Fiesel by their ambient passages, be aware that this isn't a mellow June of '44 of Shiner album. If you're looking for a hardcore album, this isn't it either. It's just Fiesel. I sure wish I knew how to describe it better, God knows I tried. PART 2: So aside from the production credits I was off on most of that Fiesel review. When you put it on tape and crank it while you're speeding around Worcester in your car (or cab in my case) it's an entirely different entity. I'm doing that with all of the CDs that I review in the future. Now I remember why previous Fiesel records were so grooveless, they didn't have a bass player. [ed: Actually, their EP has the same lineup, with bass player.] Duh huh, smoke another - so I did and WO: I was thinking before, there are no boring parts to this album. "A Lot Can Happen In the Middle of Nowhere" has one of the best dynamic buildups that I've ever heard. The new bass player makes all the difference as some of the most memorable parts of this record start and end with bass solos. "A Lot Can Happen" evokes a futuristic nihilistic movie soundtrack with it's reoccurring monstrous bass line, noisy, dissonant, trance like guitar, and tribal military march drumming. One more comparison - Fugazi, Fugazi, Fugazi. I try to reserve that for bands that deserve it, but Fiesel doesn't just rock like Fugazi, they keep it original like Fugazi; and when I hear them shout, I can't help but think of Ian and Guy. They also remind me of Sonic Youth and Rorschach, not necessarily with their sound, but with their originality. This is the most unique record that I've heard in a long time. It bears repeated listenings, as witnessed by this reviewer. |
from Smother
| EDITOR'S PICK :: Uplifting, chaotic, and post-everything, Fiesel weighs in as a super-heavyweight champion of sonic manipulation. Never offering the listener a chance to settle in one particular riff Fiesel completely rewrites the rules of songwriting. Possibly comparable to a Fugazi, Refused, and God Speed You Black Emperor children. Lyrical genius combines with an innate ability to touch upon the musical soul of us all. The only thing disappointing with this seven track album is that it has to end. Certainly one of the better releases this year. -- J-Sin |
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