Artist: 69 Chambers
Label: Silverwolf Productions
Release: 2009
Runtime: 55:43
Rating: 2.5/5
Here’s yet another band that hands the mic to a woman, and this one comes from Switzerland. They’re called 69 Chambers. What if a band like Black Sabbath had picked 69 Chambers singer Nina Tremi as their frontwoman instead of Ozzy? That’s basically what you get here: an alternative (stoner) metal album, alternative mostly thanks to Nina’s deliberately “warped” singing, which sounds like a furious filly in the Alanis Morissette mold who took a slightly-too-heavy dose of tranquilizers.
The songs don’t do anything special. The whole album is saved by genuinely excellent production, with a vampiric guitar stance and a massive curtain of riffs pushed clearly into the background of a propped-up volume, into which Nina’s vocal approach carelessly gnaws its way. It’s modern, it’s lively. That’s a big plus for a debut album that is dead average and, as far as its own authorial identity goes, not exactly expressive.
The band is definitely still finding its feet on the debut “War Of The Inside”. Whether they go for an alt-rock stance or sink their teeth fully into stoner metal is just one of the possible paths. The Collapse Of Time And Space, where Nina is backed by the warped string-stretching of a single-note guitar line, would have no trouble finding a spot on any alt / indie rock album, and if “grunge” were still popular today, I’d rather say on a “grunge” album. Wind Feels Fire, with a line that even conjures up some blues in its sleepy swaying, proves that 69 Chambers are still testing the ground where they’ll try to park their ship.
Nina’s voice is a double-edged sword. It carries “its own Morissette” character, which decisively shapes the overall look of the songs on “War On The Inside” and the energy of the band itself. If the voice grabs you, 69 Chambers will too. If not, they won’t. It’s a voice that works great for wiping out genericness, a lack of lived-in feel and a lack of creativity. In other words, copying from others. For the narrow confines of stoner phrases, that’s a very welcome thing. Even Final Memento, which on the other hand is something Soundgarden could have written in the early nineties, blurs the line between generic and unique on first listen thanks to Nina’s vocals. So a bit of caution when you try this album out before investing in it won’t hurt one bit in this case.
“War On The Inside” isn’t the type of album that sparks interest, sticks in your ears or begs for back-to-back spins in the CD player. Nina is the main card 69 Chambers are gambling with. Will critics warm to the girl or not? And if they do, how will they like her, and how will 69 Chambers know to behave in the future in order to please the crowd? Does that sound right to you? In that case you don’t really think much of your own artistic voice. Even the album cover alone smells like “alternative that wants to make the masses happy”. The Evanescence trick? Not such a silly comparison, either. “Alternative” is a warped and abused word in music these days anyway, like “progressive”. Just the opener The Day Of The Locust has a touch of seductive melody in the chorus that Nina nails to the mic pretty well, and the same goes for Bloodaxe right after it! Then the doubts, the quips and the second thoughts creep in. In short: the singer isn’t without talent. We’ll see how 69 Chambers use her in the future, and for now let’s keep a wary distance.
Lineup
Nina Tremi – vocals, guitar
Maddy – bass, backing vocals
Diego – drums
Tracklist
01. The Day of the Locust
02. Bloodaxe
03. Thinking about You
04. On the Inside
05. Ex Nihilo
06. Return of the Repressed
07. Judas Goat
08. The Collapse of Time and Space
09. Wind Feeds Fire
10. Dead Letter Office
11. Final Memento
12. Automatic Automata
13. A Ruse
