With a cover that resembles a Lego advertisement, I didn’t quite know what to expect from this EP. This Turkish band’s bio and band name indicate that they are a Grind outfit but I encountered very little of that while listening to “Justice”. Fans expecting something in the vein of CARCASS or NASUM will be sorely disappointed by this 5 track EP, but I kinda dug it. Key word here being kinda…

What the Turks offer us here is a slightly underwhelming but still decent mix of Doom, Industrial and Grind. These styles never mesh into a cohesive whole on here, with the band instead opting to explore each style individually on a different track. This gives the EP a slightly incoherent feel but overall these five tracks aren’t too bad. The opener, where the band gives Chopin’s famed “Death March” a Doom/Industrial makeover is an interesting way to kick things off. The deep Gothic vocal approach and sparse keyboards utilized here creates quite a somber vibe, something also present “Ne Umiray” (Don’t Lie), the latter being a solid Doom-Goth track with subtle electronic undertones and very effective keyboard lines. So you see, there is precious little Grind to be found here, with the band only dipping their toes in the Grind cesspool on “Trust Or Grind” and “Corruption”, musically the two most banal tracks on here. They are at their most effective when they opt for the more unorthodox road, like on the tracks that bookend the EP. 

The production is lacking a little bit and some of the songs are very elementary in nature but overall I’m not too disappointed by this EP. They show promise, especially as far as writing surprisingly soulful songs (“Ne Umiray”) is concerned, and the packaging/lay-out is stellar. Yet with a running time of only about 15 minutes they didn’t allow themselves to develop their sound a little more.

If they iron out a few kinks here and give their material more space to breathe then these guys may very well be one of Turkey’s more promising bands.

Very nearly a Turkish delight…. (sorry, just couldn’t help myself).

(Online July 6, 2007)