Customer Reviews

Closing in

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If today's metal scene has left you yearning for the days of old (i.e. Priest, Maiden, Sabbath) then Early Man is the answer to your prayers. Early Man sounds almost exactly like early Black Sabbath around the time of their debut or the Master of Reality album. In fact, some will probably accuse Early Man of being nothing more than a Sabbath clone band, which in many respects is valid. But you can deny these guys have the riffs and the old school vibe going strong on Closing In. The singer sounds like a mix of early Ozzy and a twinge of early Geddy Lee. The riffs are fast and plentiful. War Eagle and Feeding Frenzy are my personal favorites. There is no let up on this album as it rocks from beginning to end. The riff in Death is the Answer to my Prayers is almost an exact clone of Sabbath Bloody Sabbath with a few minor adjustments. While Early Man may not be the most original band to hit the metal scene, they have resurrected the old school of metal with Closing In. There is tons of potential here. Overall, for metal fans who enjoy the old school, Early Man will satisfy your craving for stripped down, bare bones heavy metal. Recommended.

First of all, I should make one thing clear. While there are two members of the band on this recording (guest guitar is present on several tracks), this is multi-tracked as a full band: lead and rhythm guitars, bass guitar, vocals, and drums. This is not a "White Stripes", "Local H", or "Black Keys" band. In other words, you will hear bass in the songs, even if it is mixed like AC/DC (not really noticable).

Early Man hearkens back to classic British Metal ala Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, with a nod to Motorhead and Black Sabbath. They are not the first band to do so in the vein of indie rock (versus established metal) as the F!cking Champs have been doing it for a few years, albeit with a more round sound (synths). All that said, it also bears strong resemblence to Screamo punk rock (Thrice, Bleed Through, etc). In fact at times, Conte's vocals sound exactly like the more melodic stylings of Thrice while other times the vocals sound like a Rob Halford/Bruce Dickenson/Ozzy hybrid croon.

A few songs take a while to build up steam and, honestly, come off as cheesy ("death is the answer to my prayers")... but given a few measures of mid-tempo rock, the sound opens up to minor pentatonic riffage. Honestly it sounds like a punk band (think Black Flag... not whatever is on TV these days) playing Judas Priest in the Screaming for Vengence era. That is not a bad thing. The guitars lack the "crisp" overproduced sound of super strats with active pickups and California boutique amps that pretty much helped kill metal (pop metal and the other junk that is popular now). Instead it has that punk/British metal crunch and bass... much like older Judas. The bass, when it is locked in a groove really sounds like Steve Harris (the "gallop").

The sound is refreshing and though it is fast, it is not as technical or produced as even early Metallica (the "California" sound) or Megadeth (both were good... but this is a new time). Conte's setup is pure vintage Black Sabbath, aside from standard tuning (a point of pride for the band): SG and Orange Amp at eleven... no pedals. Good stuff and much better than the type of music that passes for metal today, which is why it is really more of a British Metal/punk hybrid (not unlike Burton-era Metallica).

Where the music differs from the Judas Priest/Maiden formula is in the subject of the songs as well as the lack of "poppy sounding" G-A-C-D style progressions (something Maiden and Priest did in some measure). The songs are darker and hearken more towards Danzig and the Misfits. The other key difference between the British bands of yore is the lack of "dueling guitars".

In summary: Early Man takes metal seriously, perhaps too much so, but the band has alot of promise. They are well paired to tour with long-time Black Flag fans Fu Manchu. Actually Fu Manchu playing Priest is not totally off, in terms of points of reference. This is not an album that would please modern metal fans, this is more of a traditional sound... for some reason it's the kind of thing alot of punks (whatever that means these days) will like, much like Fu Manchu.

Recommended.

This by far one of the best new bands ive come accross. Im a fan of all types of music, but the metal does hold a special place in my heart. This album manages to find a great balance of honoring the old and usuing it to create a new highly enjoyable sound. This is the kind of metal I've been looking for, no BS, just rocking. EVIL IS is a stand out and how could you not like a band that has a song called Death is the Answer to my Prayers? Great album for a haul on the mountain bike. I particularly enjoy the breakdowns during almost every song and the dude actually sings too, which is a welcome relief from the monster voices of other so called metal. This is for the fans of good music period, those who hated St. Anger and cried for Master of Puppets II, here's your gift.

A couple of young dudes just totally going for it, it's 83' all over again. Using "Kill Em All" as the template, these dudes proceed to thrash in fine fashion for the next 40 minutes. You WILL bang your head. This is the perfect album for those of us who ask ourselves as we listen to classic albums by the "big four", Testament, Overkill etc..."why can't new bands sound like this"? Death to irony, the thrash torch is being carried by Early Man with class and passion...and if you're looking for more assurance that metal will never die, check out High On Fire, Municipal Waste, and The Sword. The trend is dead, you can't fake this s$%t.

Early Man, Closing In

Do not assume Early Man, a 2 man metal thrash band from NYC, is anything like the White Stripes. Capturing the late 70's metal sound, Early Man thunders pure driven rock throughout their debut album Closing In. Their musical kin are Motorhead, Judas Priest, Dio, Merciful Fate, Minor Threat, and Head of David. Crank your stereo up to 11! Closing In will appeal to metal/punk heads and adrenaline/sport junkies...

Loving this cd, and it can wake you up. Its like Local H embracing their inner art-rock side, a la Maiden, early Metallica. Call me old fashioned, but I still like the sound of a bass to fill out the space. I felt that the times I most got into these songs was when the second guitar sounded like a bass. Regardless, there is something to enjoy in almost every track.

Excellent album. If you know anything about this band you'll understand the statement being made in there music. This album has a couple of highlights firstly "Like a Goddamn Rat" killer tune.. riffage chord burst.

Early Man is a band that really threw me at first. I mean, I love (LOVE) metal, especially 80's metal, but the last place I'd expect to hear an 80's metal revival is a band on indie darlings Matador Records. I thought this might be some kind of ironic thing, like "hey, let's mock old metal by playing that style," but by all accounts these guys really do love metal.

So Early Man is a real metal band, and one that is obviously influenced by the classics. I hear early Iron Maiden, early Metallica and especially Diamond Head. While there are some good solos here, Early Man seems to be all about the thrash riffs and New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) attitude. You even get a Sabbath vibe on songs like "Death Is the Answer." The vocals sound a bit like Ozzy and a bit like Diamond Head's Sean Harris - a little nasally, but a good fit for this kind of music.

Closing In is just a straight-up, killer heavy metal album with a great spirit. I don't care if there is some ironic hipster appeal here. If you love the classic heavy metal sound, you need to check out Early Man.

That said; there are a lot of bands out there that are keeping the classic metal flame burning. If you're really into what Early Man is doing, you owe it to yourself to check out bands like White Wizzard, Holy Grail, Wolf, Cauldron and Seventh Calling. Hell, at least check out what the classics are up to these days. Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Saxon and yes even Metallica have all released strong albums in recent years.

Simple and straight forward...and hard core. This is a fantastic album! I listened to it everyday for months. A must have if you like hard and fast rock with an edge.

As much as I love Hip-Hop and heavy metal, I cursed the day they got together. What seemed so promising on the outset (remember Faith No More?) quickly devolved into the worst aspects of both genres and became the favoured choice of the very people who hated it first: mooks, jocks and Woodstock date rapists. But alas, even then, a secret fire was brewing. Lazy critics called it stoner rock, but not so fast. Stoner didn't explain Queens of the Stone Age's unabashed Beatles hooks, High on Fire's thorough understanding of Funkadelic or Mastodon's free-jazz drumming. This was too involved, too arty, genuinely New metal as opposed to Nu Metal. You could tell these are the guys who probably got kicked out of the Limp Bizkit party because they didn't call each other dawg. Their loss, for Metal has finally got its testicles back and we have these bands to thank. Now add the awesome EARLY MAN to their number. The name fits because this is primal riff rock with all the bloat trimmed off. It helps that there's only two of them. It also helps that they listened to Black Sabbath correctly and realized that they were a GROOVE band. Sure you could say the riffs aren't exactly theirs and "Death is the Answer" swipes Ozzy a little too closely, but these are young guys who've sold their souls to rock and roll and are now downright drunk on what they got in the bargain. Play it loud, but forget the bong. Closing In comes with its own high.