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Palmer press articles.

Toilet Ov Hell

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Palmer: The Re(Inter)view

by Joaquin Stick

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the amount of good post metal this year, and this experimental Swiss band is keeping the standards high.

Palmer has been around for a long time, despite this upcoming album only being their third LP. I was pretty hooked on first listen, so I naturally wondered why I hadn’t noticed them before. Going back to some of their older material, it found it to be good, but it probably wouldn’t have hooked me back in 2011, so I asked them:

Six years is a long time between albums. What has the band been up to, and how was your songwriting ability able to grow so much if you’re not constantly putting out material?

We all have a lot going on. So when we put our heads together and decided on making another album, we first booked the studio a year in advance, so basically there was no point of return after that. We started going through all the material we had collected over the past few years and mixed it together with new ideas. Our first Surrounding The Void rehearsal was very inspiring and helped us get the whole process started and we eventually got into a kind of flow. Moreover, I guess having a deadline helped us build up some positive pressure as well.

One of the first things I noticed about this album is that a good many of the tracks follow a similar song structure. They start with a good riff, switch to something different at the midsection, then return and conclude with the original riff (with a few alterations and usually increased intensity). “Home is Where I Lead You” is a well-paced song, starting with alarming aggressiveness, dipping down for a short break, then returning to conclude with that excellent Meshuggah-like riff. This trend in the songwriting comes up again with “Digital Individual”, but this time with a nice prog solo sandwiched between.

If you just listened to these two songs, the progginess might seem out of place, but thrown in there in the track four slot, “Artein” is seven minutes of solid ethereal post-rock with that prog-metal style guitar solo again. With the heavy post-metalness of the core sound, I can’t quite tell how I feel about these genre-interruptions. Does it make the album less cohesive, or does it show interesting diversity? I can see it being argued either way, but I am almost always on the side against pigeonholing your sound, so I’m not complaining. While they might not really blend together perfectly, each style is very well done in its own right. I wanted to know where this variety came from:

Throughout the album, you guys demonstrate a few wildly different styles of metal, from post to prog, and maybe even a little hardcore and post-rock. Where are all these influences coming from, and how do you decide what the range the album should be?

Each of us has a different kind of musical background. Our bass player, for example, plays double bass in a Jazz trio and in a Mambo orchestra as well. I listen to a lot of Jazz such as Kurt Rosenwinkel, Snarky Puppy, Allan Holdsworth, etc. We did not have a masterplan as such; it all happened naturally and I hope you can hear that. Everything is possible, we are not afraid of giving other music styles a place within the Palmer universe.

“Misery” slows things down a little and lets the punching vocals take the lead. My Isis obsession leaves a soft spot for this style, with the slow melodic groove attempting to carry my thoughts away, but the vocals keeping me in the present. It’s a bizarre and lovely sensation, having your focus pulled in two directions at once.

 

The pinnacle of this album comes with the penultimate song “Rising”. Here they actually do an exceptional job of blending the prog guitar with some of the post-metal stylings in the first two minutes, shift to an absolute beast of a melodic post-metal rhythm, then slightly slow down to lower your guard just to finish with “that thing” that I love about post metal: The lull that leads directly into an explosive riff that puts your nerves on overload. Goddamn, that is a good song.

Lastly, I wanted to ask about the theme of the album. The vague lyrics seem to point anger at anything you might want it to, so I wanted to know:

Is there a lyrical or thematic motive behind Surrounding the Void that you would be willing to tell us about?

If you want to boil down the essence of the album into one word, you can probably say that its main theme is relationships. Relationships between man and woman, between friends and former friends, between people of different groups or even toward yourself. We live in a world of relationships. You cannot interact or even exist without acknowledging that you are in some way or another influenced by the relationship with people and things surrounding you. Surrounding The Void tries to look into these relationships, and what can happen if those relationships are one-sided.

Overall, Surrounding the Void is a true coming-to-form album for these guys, and I am looking forward to seeing where it leads them. I guess home is where it will lead them. Song title jokes. Anyway, I’m giving this a solid 4/5 Flaming Toilets ov Hell.

Metalbrothers

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Interview with Palmer

by Vpower

Technically PALMER has nothing to envy any other band, they are so skilled as any one can be, and more than most of bands around. In terms of composition they can thrash you in a moment and the next one they are just silk and millpond, dark atmosphers or fantastic melodies all around. Probably, the best band out from Switzerland since the times of Swiss legend Coroner, a must listen, in a word. We talk to Jan Walchli, founding member and axeman.

 

Hello Jan and congratulations for your excellent new album ‘Surrounding The Void’ 

Thank you very much. We really appreciate it.

Palmer is a Swiss band with four members and more than 15 years of path in this complicated world of Metal and music in general. How do you summarize all those years? What is the balance?

We never thought too much about that. When I decided to found Palmer, around about 2000, all I wanted is to find some guys who shared my passion in music. And so we came together. I more or less knew all the guys already, as we were all active in the local scene. And so we started doing our own thing, we just let it happen. We never had a masterplan or something. When we felt ready to go to studio, we did. We’ve had a lot of good moments, gigs and experiences so far. And at the same time we managed to keep our musical independence.

What can you tell us about the current line-up, Jan?

Ueli, Remo, Steve and me, it‘s still the original line-up. I think this is fact that speaks for itself. This also gave us the opportunity to find and create our own way of making music.

‘Surrounding The Void’ is your third full-length album. The bands usually say that the last release is the best, it’s almost like a mantra. But I think in this ocassion it’s totally true

I totally agree with you. I‘m very critical concerning my own ideas. The most ideas disappear directly into the trashcan. And of course we try to improve ourselves in every aspect of making music i.e. arrangements, tightness, production, cover and so on. And I‘m pretty convinced that’s exactly the case with our new record.

In fact, there are so much work on this ‘Surrounding The Void’, so many views and angles in you music that you need some time and many listenings to digest all you offer

Lot’s of the people say so, so I think that‘s correct, too. But we don’t think about such things. The music just happens. It‘s our music.

Jan, do you consider yourself a perfecionist in terms of music and composition?

No, not really. To be a perfectionist must be very exhausting. We do the best we can, but we are also aware of the fact that it‘s not Palmer that feeds our families. So at a certain point we have to go further instead of arguing over and over about certain details.

How long have you worked in this ‘Surrounding The Void’ and how was the composition process?

About two years. I bring riffs or ideas that I figured out at home and we build on them as a band. We were kind of collecting all the riffs and ideas over the few last years and then we picked out the premium ones, arranged everything and put the songs together.

Compared to previous releases, what new elements are we going to find?

I don‘t know if there are genuinely new elements, but in general I’d say that the new album is more intense, more elaborated and more professional; simply put: a little bit more of everything that defines the Palmer sound. Furthermore there is no uptempo song on „Surrounding The Void“.

I was totally surprised by the great amount of musical approaches you are able to play in the same song, even jazz elements in some moments. You name it progressive metal or what?

Let‘s call it Palmernoise  . Indeed all members listen to a lot of different styles. Yeah, I love Jazz a lot, but also Rock, Prog, Pop… Our bassplayer Ueli for example plays double bass in a jazz combo and a Mambo band too. We are not only metal dudes. Metal is great, but there is so much fantastic music out there, you just have to be open minded and you get free acces to a huge universe of amazing bands or musicians.

Palmernoise… it really sounds good. Some pleople may think your music is not ready for comsumption by any kind of metalhead, I mean, maybe if you are too focused in a unique style or you listen to a few bands then Palmer’s complexity would be too much for some guys, what do you think?

As artists or musicians we just do what we have to do without thinking about the consequences or whether people may like our music or not. What we do just feels natural for us. I think it‘s the only way to keep your own integrity. Of course we feel lucky if people share our music with us. And luckily there are some  .

One of the strong points in ‘Surrounding The Void’ is that you blend all those influences and subgenres with absolute fluency, that makes the listening very easy and enjoyable for any trained ear

Absolutely, for us it‘s the most natural thing in the world. It‘s how we build our music and hopefully keep it exciting and interesting for people who want to dig a little bit deeper into music. The more you listen to our songs the more you can explore and discover.

I would like to remark the great execution of the rhythm section, it really opens the path for all your developments

Yeah, they did a great job. The drumsound is absolutely fat and massive and together with the mighty bass, these two guys create the framework on which Steve and I can unleash our musical fury.

You, Jan Walchli, have done a titanic effort on guitars. I really appreciate your skills to pass from brutality to melancholy or melody. What is your background? What guitarists have influenced your style?

I started listening to metal when I was twelve years old – Helloween, Testament… Then I had my progressive period, the more complicated the better i.e. Watchtower, Dream Theater, Cynic. At the same time I started to listen to Jazz Rock/Fusion like Frank Gambale, Scott Henderson and of course the outstanding Allan Holdsworth. I like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Snarky Puppy, Rush, Meshuggah of course and many more. Meshuggah in my opinion is definitely THE shit in metal. Since decades they’ve been blowing my mind away.

The instrumental work is awesome and Steve Diener (vocals) fits perfectly on it, with a very dramatic performance

The fact that we’ve been sharing the music together since we started in 2000 helps us appear as an entity. And Steve, with his personality on and off stage and his unique voice, is an important part of it.

Being a band from Switzerland, how do you see the Metal scene in your country and how has it affected your life as a band?

There are a lot of great and interesting bands out there and we try to help each other as much as we can.

How can any guy get your cd?

Hereby some links:

Czar Shop:
http://czarshop.com/palmer/124-palmer-surrounding-the-void.html

CeDe.ch:
https://www.cede.ch/de/music/?view=detail&branch_sub=0&id=1383698&branch=1

PHD
CD: http://www.plastichead.com/item.asp?ex=fitem&target=CZAR043 LP: http://www.plastichead.com/item.asp?ex=fitem&target=CZAR049

itunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/de/album/surrounding-the-void/id1187252795

If you could choose to tour around with some guys whom they would be?

Meshuggah

So, any tour dates confirmed for this 2017 so far?

Yes, please check out our homepage www.palmernoise.com where you can find all the dates. But let me point out the Czar Fest at the Kaserne in Basel on the 15.04.17. A great Festival with an amazing Line-Up.

What are your plans for the future?

To play as many gigs as possible an of course to have a lot of fun.

Thank you very much Jan for this chance to know more abour Palmer. If you wish to add something…

We would like to thank all the people out there who have supported us during all these years! Thanks a lot!

Ragherrie

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Review – Surrounding The Void

Corne Janssen

Een plaat die onze aandacht verdient

Er zijn inmiddels zoveel sludge/post metalbands dat het lastig is deze allemaal te volgen en te luisteren, of überhaupt te kennen. Zo ook met de band Palmer, dit is een Zwitserse sludge/post metalband die al 16 jaar lang aan de weg timmert. Ik had er tot voor kort nog nooit over gehoord, mede doordat je door de sludge-bomen soms het bos niet meer kan zien. Wat op zich jammer is, want Palmer laat met dit album wel degelijk horen dat ze mee kunnen met de groten der sludge en post metal. Enige toelichting is bij een dergelijke uitspraak natuurlijk vereist, dus daar gaan we.

Het eerste dat me opvalt aan het album is hoe goed de productie is. De sound van de nummers is vol, maar helder. De rustige passages zijn ingetogen en ijzingwekkend. Als de heren er voor kiezen over te schakelen naar een heftig stuk, klinkt het ook alsof het hel op aarde is. Iets wat veel bands in dit genre niet goed doen. Alle instrumentatie is goed hoorbaar en te onderscheiden van elkaar. De productie is vergelijkbaar met bands als Cult of Luna en Rosetta. En dat zijn niet de minste bands in het genre. Een groot compliment dus.

Wat de bandleden ook goed doen is het afwisselen tussen hard en zacht, maar ook tussen sloom/log en snel/furieus. Dit is altijd een hoeksteen van sludge en post metal geweest, maar het is fijn te zien dat deze mannen dit uitstekend onder de knie hebben. Nummers die dit goed tentoonstellen zijn bijvoorbeeld Home is Where I Lead You en Digital Individual. Eerstgenoemde track is tevens het eerste nummer van het album en een stevige aantrekkelijke binnenkomer. Laatstgenoemd nummer is één van de meest experimentele songs op het album, waar het nummer begint als een Gojira-achtige track, gecombineerd met jazzy intermezzo’s die niet zouden misstaan op een plaat van The Dillinger Escape Plan. Andere uitzonderlijke songs zijn Artein, waarbij de band kiest voor een sfeervol nummer zonder heavy gitaren en laat zien dat zij net zo goed een post-rock nummer zouden kunnen maken als menig post-rock bandje. En het nummer Implosion, een vreemde doch interessante afsluiter, dat een mooi delicaat noise geluid ten gehore brengt. Het gitaargeluid op deze track doet me denken aan het Tool-geluid op het album Lataralus.

Palmer heeft met Surrounding the Void een uitstekende sludge/post metal plaat afgeleverd die niet onder doet voor platen van Cult of Luna, The Ocean of Rosetta. Het is jammer dat het aantal bands in dit genre zo gegroeid is, dat dit soort pareltjes niet de aandacht krijgen die ze verdienen. Op het album wordt niet al te veel afgeweken van het concept wat in dit genre populair is, maar er wordt genoeg afwisseling ten gehore gebracht om de interesse van de luisteraar vast te houden. En dat is al een prestatie op zich.

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Artnoir

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Review – Surrounding The Void

Michael Bohli

Gerne nutze ich Musik, um kleine Rätsel zu stellen – und manchmal eignet sich ein Album einfach perfekt dafür. Denn wer hätte gedacht, dass sich hinter neuen Liedern wie “Divergent” oder “Rising” eine Gruppe aus Langenthal versteckt? Ja, die Berner Gemeinde steht nicht nur für Porzellan und Pommes Frites, sondern auch für spannenden und abwechslungsreichen Post-Metal. Mit “Surrounding The Void” kehren nämlich Palmer aus ihrer Pause zurück und beglücken uns nach sechs Jahren endlich mit ihrem dritten Album. Und das bedeutet: Geschrei, tonnenschwere Riffs und schwarzer Regen.

Palmer waren schon immer bereit, ihre Musik in diverse Richtungen gleiten zu lassen. Mit “Surrounding The Void” hat es die Gruppe aber nun geschafft, auf Augenhöhe mit so mancher Szenegrösse zu kommen. Ob ihre Musik dank sanfter Passagen und hypnotischer Rhythmen eher an Isis oder Neurosis erinnert, oder dank wildem und komplexem Ausrasten eher wieder an Tool – hier findet Songwriting und Produktion auf höchster Ebene statt. Ohne mit dieser Vielfalt die Platte zu überladen, mischen Palmer alles zu einem homogenen und wuchtigen Erlebnis. Da passt sogar eine an Steven Wilson erinnernde Passage wie “Artein” perfekt rein und bei jedem Stück gibt es schier unendlich viel zu entdecken.

Trotz all der Wut und Last, die in “Surrounding The Void” liegt, sind Palmer keine Musiker, die alles überhasten. In jedem Song liegen viele Stunden des Versuches und viele Gedanken. Das merkt man der Musik zu jeder Zeit an, und man erhält ein perfekt ausgewogenes Produkt. Der Post-Metal wird hier zu einer Reise mit rasenden und entspannten Stellen. Egal ob man also gerne den Präfix Jazz oder Ambient vor Metal stellt – an dieser Scheibe kommt kein Kanton vorbei, und endlich reckt die Schweiz vereint die Fäuste in die Luft.

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Absolute Zero Media

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Review – Surrounding The Void

by Clint Listing

The words Post Metal sum up so many things to me in 2017 but with Palmer they really have a love for bands like Early Swans, Isis, Deadguy , Tragedy and Fudge tunnel when I listen to this . There are some strong Doomy elements like  Phobos, Tripykon, Today is the day and even early Pitch shifter. This Swiss band is one pissed off force of  Metal, Post Hardcore and Noise rock into something as I listen to the emotions and power just flows from the album. The riffs are harmonic and crushing. The vocals are just tormented to say the least. If you like bands like Rosetta, Kolwoon walled City  and Mouth of the Architect then this is going to be one hell of a ride for you as well. Frustration and Loss are the biggest elements of where the feeling of this music comes from. The fragile and delicate meets the wall of sonic destruction is really what I look for in a good Post metal band and they have it all the way.  This is a very impressive release in 2017  check them out .

 

Progressive Music Planet

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Review – Surrounding The Void

by Rob

Swiss band Palmer have a rather basic, non descriptive name. But don’t be fooled. “Surrounding The Void” is powerful, epic release that combines Neurosis like post metal with an ambient, jazz vibe that gives the album depth and dichotomy. There’s a lot here to take in, assuming you can handle it.

Other bands that come to mind are two of my favorites: Cult of Luna and ISIS. This is not to say that Palmer ever copy either, or Neurosis for that matter. However, the opener, “Home is Where I Lead You” is very much in the vein of those bands when it comes to power and brutality. “Misery” is aptly named and I like that “Divergent” does just that toward the end of the track.

But where the band really separates themselves are the ethereal instrumentals like “Artein.” This track comes at the right time of the album and showcases the band’s melodic side and sense of atmosphere. “Digital Individual” has a killer riff and feels a bit Tool-like musically, another great track. “Fate_Hope” is another VERY atmospheric track. The spoken vocal part actually don’t bother me either (normally I am not a fan of that style). The album closes with a great combo. “Rising” is a brutal epic, while “Implosion” brings the listener safely back to reality.

Palmer have something interesting to offer as they combine the post metal riffage of Cult of Luna and Neurosis but really expand on the atmospheric side of that style. “Surrounding the Void” is an album that has a lot going on. I love that I’ve heard more things each time that I’ve listened to it, and I plan on listening more and more!

Rating: 8.5/10

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The Pit Of The Damned

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Review – Surrounding The Void

by Francesco Scarci

Sarò franco: sebbene gli svizzeri Palmer calchino la scena da oltre 16 anni, io non ne avevo mai sentito parlare, almeno fino ad oggi. La Czar of Bullets contribuisce infatti a diradare la mia ignoranza, inviandomi quello che è il terzo album della band alpina, ‘Surrounding the Void’. Un digipack contenente nove brani che “oscillano da qualche parte tra il post metal e il prog rock con timbriche sferiche”. Ecco come desiderano essere identificati gli elvetici, che con la classica formazione a quattro (voce, basso, batteria e chitarra), sfoderano una prova, per dire in modo semplicistico, robusta. “Home is Where I Lead You” colpisce per il suo growling rabbioso e l’incisività delle ritmiche, grazie ad un riffing corposo che coniuga gli insegnamenti di molteplici band, da Neurosis a Black Sabbath, passando attraverso High on Fire, Meshuggah e primi Mastodon. Insomma, idee chiare su dove collocare stilisticamente i Palmer? “Misery” dice che la ritmica si fa ancor più rallentata, ben più profonda e che addirittura c’è spazio per qualche fuga in territori post rock, grazie a qualche simpatica parte acustica, che taglia la tensione saturante l’aria. Le song non appaiono di certo cosi lineari nel loro svolgimento e una certa carenza in fatto di melodie, non ne agevola l’ascolto, che alla fine risulterà parecchio impegnativo. Ma l’impegno nel dover ascoltare questo disco non è necessariamente un fatto negativo, spinge semmai a molteplici ascolti, ed in generale ad una più estesa longevità del disco. “Divergent” ha un incedere dilatato che evoca inesorabilmente le ultime cose più sludge di Scott Kelly e soci, con una seconda parte affidata ad una visionaria, nonché noisy, rivisitazione del sound della band californiana. Che gli svizzeri non fossero degli sprovveduti, l’avevo già intuito da tutta una serie di piccoli segnali, ma dopo aver sentito di che cosa sono capaci qui ma soprattutto nella successiva “Artein”, mi ritrovo a sottolineare le notevoli capacità tecniche di questo quartetto. A parte che mi sembra di aver a che fare con una nuova band, questa volta dedita ad un prog rock strumentale; dovreste sentire con quale classe ed eleganza, i nostri si destreggiano con la loro strumentazione. Con “Digital Individual” si torna a pestare sul pedale dell’acceleratore con un’altra song irrequieta, che nel break centrale si concede questa volta a divagazioni prog/jazz, che consentono al combo bernese di prendere un po’ più le distanze dai gods citati ad inizio recensione e togliersi l’etichetta di meri emulatori. Direi a questo punto che è nella seconda parte di questo disco che si racchiudono le peculiarità di questi musicisti: dall’intimismo di “Fate Hope”, in cui il vocalist Steve prova anche a modulare maggiormente la propria timbrica, alla più tumultuosa “Importunity”, granitica nel suo rifferama, qui a tratti melodico. Il disco è lungo, oltre i 60 minuti e quando si arriva verso il fondo, mi sento ormai piegato sulle gambe, sfiancato dal lavoro tortuoso a livello ritmico, di cui farei un plauso al bravissimo Remo dietro alle pelli e a Jan alle chitarre, per l’eccellente lavoro proposto in una traccia dinamica com’è “Rising”. Non posso soprassedere a questo punto nel non citare anche Ueli, preciso con quei suoi fendenti di basso, che completano il quadro di una band matura al punto giusto per fare quel salto di qualità che ci si aspetterebbe da una band sulla scena da parecchio tempo. D’altro canto, io non li conoscevo proprio fino a ieri, ma oggi posso certamente affermare che i Palmer sono una band da supportare alla grande.

w-fenec.org

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Review: Palmer – Momentum

(The) Aurelio

Palmer est un groupe du genre discret, à tel point que l’on n’avait plus eu la moindre nouvelle de la part des suisses depuis le printemps 2008 et la déflagration tellurique qu’était alors This one goes to eleven. Pour autant la formation helvète n’était pas en sommeil, elle se “cantonnait” sans doute à rester prophète en son pays. Ou à aller voir ailleurs. Faut dire aussi que Palmer n’a jamais eu le retentissement qu’il méritait de se côté là de la frontière franco-suisse. Momentum pourrait inverser la tendance, car malgré un déficit évident en matière de communication entourant le groupe, cette nouvelle offrande réserve son quotas de gros son et de sensations fortes post-métallique/hardcore (et dérives attenantes). Et même un peu plus.

L’éponyme titre inaugural n’est là que pour dérouiller la mécanique, on est encore en territoire assez balisé et l’on sent bien que les Palmer en gardent délibérément sous la pédale. On passe assez vite parce que pour faire court, ce morceau-là n’apporte pas grande chose à l’édifice musical des suisses. La suite par contre défie autant les lois de la gravité que celles qui maintiennent notre psychée dans un état à peu près stable, ce jusqu’au terme de l’album et un “Aeonion” tout en finesse et retenue après que “Perpetual contingency” se soit chargé de l’équarrissage systématique des tympans. Dans l’immédiat, “Post-traumatic stress disorder” démonte les cloisons auditives et s’enfonce dans un postcore super-noïsique névrotique façon “Dirge meets Keelhaul meets Fall of Efrafa“. Une attaque massive contre les neurones, un bombardement aux neutrons et une puissance de mammouth façon rouleau-compresseur. L’image est facile certes, mais tout Palmer est dans ce deuxième titre monumental dans son genre. Une claque implacable bientôt doublée d’une séquelle qui prend la forme de “Forbidden fruit”.

Si la mise en route a été un peu en dedans, le groupe lâche maintenant les chevaux et fait parler la poudre : ça joue assez vite (ou en tous cas la rythmique est plus que soutenue) et ça frappe fort. Très fort même, à tel point que ce sont des torrents de rage brute qui s’écoulent des enceintes sur ce troisième des neufs morceaux que compte Momentum. L’album ne tourne pas à la démonstration mais à la punition métallique. On enchaîne encore avec “Renegade” puis “Lethargic”, dopés par une hargne punk et un feeling rock’n’roll quand ils ne sont pas conçus pour littéralement dévorer la platine. Un groove carnassier et une lourdeur bien grasse qui colle aux amplis. La mécanique Palmer est en marche et rien ne semble pouvoir l’entramer, une grosse louche de doom sur un schéma de syncopes postcore / stoner de l’enfer (“The downward spiral”, “Delirium and dementia”). Momentum n’a strictement rien d’un simple album de post-hardcore de plus, bien au contraire. Et permet au passage à Palmer de confirmer haut et fort ce que l’on pensait tout bas : à savoir que sa renommée est inversement proportionnelle à ses fulgurantes capacités.

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medazzarock.ch

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Review: Palmer – Momentum

Pink

Das Schweizercombo PALMER fahren mit ihrem Zweitwerk harte Geschütze auf. Mann! Also, wenn die nicht angepisst sind, dann weiss ich auch nicht. PALMER machen eine Mischung aus Thrash und Deathcore. Das Ganze wird furztrocken und stets mitten in die Fresse vorgetragen. Man meint fast, dass der Herr am Mikro mir gleich an die Gurgel springt. Der Opener „Momentum“ startet schon mal gut durch. Nummer zwei geht Geschwindigkeitsmässig etwas auf die Bremse, wobei eine eher durchschnittliche Midtempo-Nummer entsteht. Überhaupt spielen PALMER eher in der in der unteren Liga, was die Geschwindigkeit anbelangt. Die Vocals klingen, wie am Anfang schon erwähnt, mächtig angepisst. Diese Fuck You-Allüren stehen dem Album aber gut zu Gesicht, die Tracks wirken dadurch impulsiver. 8.5 Punkte

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Pitfire.ch

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Review: Palmer – Momentum

Reto

Zweites Album der Riffinstitution aus Langenthal. Und das genau ist es, eine unheimlich riffige Angelegenheit. Fies, immer furztrocken und mit einem Herzen aus Noiserock, genau wie wir unseren Metal am liebsten haben. Ach, so schön.

Naja, schön ist vielleicht der falsche Ausdruck. Diese neun Songs verlassen sich auf die allmächtige Macht der Leadgitarre. So gestalten sich denn auch die Songs, von der Southern Metal-Schiene von „Renegade“ über den vorherrschenden Noise-Sludge bis zum erstaunlich offenen Post-Metal der Marke „Frühe Isis“ in den letzten vier Songs. Herrlich, denn die Kompositionen sind souverän. Kratzig, brutal und trotzdem auf ihre Art nachvollziehbar weil durchgehend nervenaufreibend. Schweizer Qualitätshandwerk sozusagen. Selbiges gilt für das lieblich bösartige Geschrei höchster Güteklasse und die sehr druckvolle Produktion (+ Inspiration) von V.O. Pulver, die wie die Faust aufs Auge passt. Logisch, bei derart schwerer Kost. Lediglich, das spanisch anmutende Gezupfe beim Rausschmeisser hätte man sich sparen können.

Auch wenn es „nur“ eine Schweizer Band ist, sollte man sich „Momentum“ sofort zulegen, wenn man die 1999-er-Version von Post-Metal vermisst und einem Unsane zu unproduktiv sind. Hervorragend!

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