What is it with the countryside and metal? Growing up on the West Coast of Scotland surrounded by lochs, fields and forests and a comfortable distance from scary and unknowable Glasgow, I always felt that the music of rural dwelling was predominantly gentle in style, with accordions, fiddles etc. heavily to the fore. But Oxfordshire seems different: Chalgrove, Cumnor and Wantage, despite overlooking some of the loveliest, most serene countryside in England, are just heaving with ferocious metal and hardcore punk bands.
I’m not really the right man for the job of assessing the worth of the various competing groups, as I fogeyishly view the continuing production of these forms of music as a psychological phenomenon rather than a musical one, but in the absence of an Oxfordbands.com Hardcore Emo Speedmetal correspondent, I’ll give it a go. Chinnor’s Cabeza at least give us a variety of styles on their current demo. ‘The Flower Queen’s Daughter’ has a title that suggests a bit of Led Zeppelin pastoral nonsense, but actually imitates the bluesier end of that band’s output. There’s also a bit of Black Flag in the mix, with the singer approximating Henry Rollins’ manic mentalism, though the band’s sound is a lot thinner and the drummer is allowed to play with a jazzy freedom which would probably have had Rollins’ boot up his bottom if he’d drummed for the Flag.
Next up is ‘Abhorrent Visage’ which features non-abhorrent drumming (this time in triple time) and significantly bad singing. Halfway through, the band lurch into a jaunty little hop that might, if rescored by Mark Ronson , provide dance music for a fifties high-school prom, but which seems a bit girly for a group that majors in punk rock. They are notably more secure in their skins with ‘Corvazon’ which is almost the archetype of a U.S hardcore track; fast, shouty, a bit out of tune and two minutes long. Crucially, the energy level is high, with the drumming particularly buzzed and the singer tossing off the incomprehensible lyric with urgency and some conviction.
So, as I said, not my thing but I’ve heard a lot worse. The inventiveness of the drumming is the big plus for the band, they are righteously tight and they can play a two-minute hardcore tune. The next Winnebago Deal? Dunno. I don’t recommend them, but I point them out.