Search - Premonitions of War :: Left in Kowloon

A thing of rare beauty

cosmokane31 | San Francisco, CA United States | 05/09/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Premonitions of War' "Left in Kowloon" is a thing of rare beauty. From the mysterious urban visuals to the cinematic lyrics, the packaging is clean, dark, and abstract. But the true beauty lies in the brutality underneath. While the album is on Victory, a label associated with hardcore (and more recently with metalcore), it has much more in common with the grindcore of Pig Destroyer or Napalm Death. Fueled by downtuned riffs, crushing blastbeats, and roaring vocals, 12 tracks blaze by in just over 26 minutes. The first 5 tracks are minute-long mercy killings; the astounding "Black Den" then slows the pace with haunting, sludgy riffs. After the industrial ambience of "Cables Hum Overhead," the madness resumes. The latter half of the album adds tempo changes and Sabbath-esque grooves, while spaciously dissonant chords throughout lift this band above the "-core" pack. Rarely has such brutality had such depth."

Disappointing

Twitch | 01/30/2004

(2 out of 5 stars)

"While I'll admit I am not too familiar with POW's previous albums, I can't imagine them being much better than this lackluster release. As a whole "Left In Kowloon" leaves much left to be desired. While I won't deny the album of its intensity and onslaught agression, this record feels very incomplete. My biggest gripe is the length of the album. Don't get me wrong here, however, as I have no problem with short(er) albums(Poison The Well-Opposite Of December and Hatebreed-Satisfaction Is The Death Of Desire come to mind--two great albums) but clocking in at around 26 minutes, "Left In Kowloon" comes across feeling very incomplete. Just as the songs begin to pick up they end abruptly. The material that is written is decent but if they could of tacked on a few more minutes to the total length of the album I feel "Left In Kowloon" would have a much more fuller sound and feel to it. I understand POW is trying to cut out the BS and go straight for your throat, but that doesn't mean that it is executed to perfection. The sad truth is that the water POW is treading has been treaded by many other bands before and they do it better. I still can find good in just about every album, however, and I will say that both "The Octopus" and "Dim Light District" are above and beyond the highlight tracks of the album. If your looking for a good quality band with a new release off Victory I suggest you skip this release and pick up "The Silent Circus" by Between The Buried And Me."

Sheer Brutality

Frankenchrist | USA | 05/25/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"On an angry scale of one to ten (ten being the angriest) PREMONITIONS OF WAR'S forthcoming CD, "Left in Kowloon" would be somewhere around an eleven. Their brutally infuriating blend of metalcore and Death Metal is like something not of this world. Simple words can't describe the level of intensity these guys have achieved in this corrosive, remorseless album. This was yet another CD under the Victory label that assaults your nerve ending from beginning to end. Music of this variety has the tendency to be somewhat unnerving because of its unyielding characteristics but this particular album has an addiction factor due to an overwhelming application of creativity and diversity. This is not your run of the mill "deathcore" album containing the "if-then" orchestration either. Their transitional scales are intelligently planned illustrating an ability to be sporadic but not perplexing. The crushing mosh styled beats are pressed against a sonic blast of speedy synchronizations. Every member in the band is obviously working their ass off together in this garish series of songs. If you had to make some comparisons, you could look to other bands like UNSANE, SOILENT GREEN and NEUROSIS. Don't assume too much though and quickly package them as another Deathcore posse because you would be selling them short of what they are really about. Generally speaking, this CD is worth being a part of your coveted music collection."