EXES FOR EYES - Tongues Like Figure Eights

December 19, 2014, 9 years ago

(Independent)

David Perri

Rating: 7.0

review heavy metal exes for eyes

EXES FOR EYES - Tongues Like Figure Eights

Formed by ex-Annihilator bassist Dave Sheldon and Endast vocalist James Arsenian, Toronto/Montreal’s Exes For Eyes has recently gained attention for the innovative marketing technique that has surrounded the release of Tongues Like Figure Eights, its second record. Engaging in an effort the band is calling The Platinum Project, Exes For Eyes is selling Tongues Like Figure Eights online for one dollar in the hope of selling one million copies and attaining Platinum status. Is that a lofty goal for an independent band that has only one previous album to its credit? Of course it is. But even if the campaign falls short of its goal - which is likely, given that even Coldplay and Katy Perry couldn’t sell a million units in the United States this past year - this unique and bold idea shows perseverance and a flair for embracing tactics that could go viral, if luck is on Exes For Eyes’ side. As of press time, Tongues Like Figure Eights has sold more copies in a week than Arsenian’s records with Endast have sold over the last three years, which points to a promising start, commercially speaking, for this project.

Artistically, Tongues Like Figure Eights is less of an innovator than its marketing campaign would suggest. Though competently written and performed, the album is at too many moments reliant on Soilwork’s mid-career moments, and it’s no surprise that Soilwork vocalist Bjorn “Speed” Strid makes an appearance on “Done For Good”. That said, Tongues Like Figure Eights remains a professional and invigorating record that prominently showcases the vast experience that both Sheldon and Arsenian posses in the underground metal industry. In that vein, Tongues Like Figure Eights’ title track is the type of anthem some bands wait a career to execute, while “Bleed The Stone”’s main riff is impressive in its distinctive angularity: it’s in these spheres that the true potential of Exes For Eyes makes itself known, fists up and ready to unleash a torrent of right hooks in its quest to sell one million copies. A million copies, damn... let's all salute to the ambition Exes For Eyes has shown itself capable of.



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