Alternative Control Review
February 2, 2018
MTM Review
February 6, 2018
Original article here: https://ellenwood-ep.com/track-review-trigram-assimilate-video/
Trigram are a new band from Los Angeles whose debut self-titled EP draws on a number of styles of rock striking an interesting balance. They’re right to name such influences as A Perfect Circle and Deftones as part of their sound, as they manage to fuse 90-s influenced hard rock, alternative and shoegaze-style grunge and just the right touch of metal to their politically-tinged message.
“Assimilate” is just one of three videos Trigram have released since their album dropped in late November. It really ramps up the visceral side of their stark message, pointing to devices and social media as a form of mind control and a way to quell the masses. While the video is stark, gritty and a little scary, the song itself has those elements but the music is also quite haunting and beautiful. This is in a large part due to the Deftones-esque shoegaze vocals and major-to-minor key changes in the chorus. When juxtaposed against the churning metal guitars and souciant of thrash, the sound on this track reaches that perfect balance that so many bands from the 90s and beyond have striven to achieve.
Trigram make this balance of sounds seem effortless. The quality of their product on this debut is almost shocking, and “Assimilate” isn’t even the best example of their potential on this album. If this is Trigram’s bassline, the rock world is in for a new megagroup very shortly.
