Blunt Blade’s self titled record sees the Winona based multi-faceted take you down a sonic maze of experimentation that wavers between so many different experiences, elements, and effects. Front and centre of it all lies a unique interplay between rock, electronic, and indie. Heavily utilising synth work alongside live rock instrumentation, Blunt Blade specialises in these intricate and complex arrangements that still retain a core value proposition of harmonies that are simple and melodically transporting.
Opening with ‘Tension’, a near six minute long epic, Blunt Blade embarks on the self-titled record with a single that’s bound to have you immediately drawn in to the vision of the record at large. As it progresses into ‘The Build’, the powerful and thumping drum work starts to crash and enlarge with such vociferous force and precision. It’s heavy and ominous, but its in the subtlety of the bass work that you find yourself most pre-occupied and fixated with the scale of it all. The disco combination with classic rock finds itself to really have you intrigued. For fans of Bowie, The Talking Heads, and experimental electronic rock music in that ilk, ‘Blunt Blade’ really strikes a chord of resonance. Not least because the vocals of Aaron find themselves to sit in that realm of being so otherworldly and larger than life with their scale and presence.
The frenetic chaos of a flurry on a track like ‘The Sad Clown’ definitely becomes the go to highlight across the record for me. There’s so much unrelenting and pulsating energy in each piece, but there’s a certain scariness to the keys on this track that set it especially apart. While its definitely an experimental and experiential journey, ‘Blunt Blade’ is far from abrasive. On the contrary, the record exists as one of the most melodic and harmonic journeys you’ll embark on, with a level of delicate intricacy that’s bound to have you endeared.