Thomas Giles – Pulse (2011)

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After not liking any of Between the Buried and Me’s stuff, I was about to hurl when I got this promo in my review queue. However, something magical will happen to you when you listen to this album since you will end-up loving it for its originality and freshness.

I believe since I was expecting some crap like Between the Buried and Me I was less critical about this release, but many listens to this album you will still find yourself appreciating it and finding new details about the music. Thomas Giles crafts 11 songs that are very rich sounding and that have the perfect amounts of electronic elements, rock guitars, melancholic vocals and piano sections.

“Pulse” starts with the hypnotic “Sleep Shake”, in this song you can hear a wide palette of rock sounds mixed with electronic elements, solid singing, and a great build-up. Since this song we got completely hooked into the album since this is not what we expected from Thomas Giles. “Reverb Island” sounds like a hippier version of Cynic, and we completely love it.

The dramatics of “Mr. Brid” are greatly accentuated by the piano, and create a very emotional song. “Catch & Release” is a song that the album could have done without, but it nicely breaks the momentum of the album. “Hamilton Anxiety Scale” takes us back to the Melodic/Depressive Rock sounds after its acoustic-like intro. The experimental “Reject Falicon” will surely confuse some people, but after a few listens this track grows on you.

Harsh vocals make their appearance in “Medic” and we believe the album could have done without them entirely, but they do break the flow of the release very effectively. “Armchair Travel” is another one of those WTF songs since it has the feeling of an acoustic open mic night at a coffee shop.  “Hypoxia” has to be our favorite song due to its melodramatic elements brilliantly crafted by Post-Rock style influences.

In general, we have to say that we felt dirty liking this release so much. Thomas Giles shows that he is in fact a great composer and musician, and with “Pulse” he will surely gain plenty of followers from different genres of Metal and beyond. We greatly recommend this release for all people looking for something different and fresh.

Band: Thomas Giles Album: Pulse
Label:Metal Blade Records

Release: February 1st, 2011

Official Site myspace
Genre: Experimental Rock

Country: USA

Rating: 88/100
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