ALLELE - Point Of Origin

ALLELE
Point Of Origin
Corporate Punishment Records
8/10




Familiarity breeds contempt and in the case of the music of Allele, many extra-jaded listeners may be inclined to dismiss the project out of hand after a small taste this talented new group’s highly accessible brand of music.

Those that would apply a tag of Nu metal to the band’s sounds would be much too far off base in their assessment, as even with the band’s Nu metal pedigree, with members Kelly Hayes coming into the project after having abruptly left Cold and guitarist Lane Maverick having spent time in initial lineup OTEP.

However, this album is straight up, pure and simple modern rock. There’s very little metal influence happening here, with just a touch of the types of sounds that you would hear on a Nu Metal record and a substantial quality of the type of hook-oriented rock that has been dominating the AOR airwaves for the past several years.

So while you can’t say that Allele is anything that could be considered to be unique, one fact remains. They are damn good at what they do. Soaring melodies and hooks large enough to reel in a whale infect the songs of “Point Of Origin” like a virus, worming their way into every possible nuance on the record and ultimately, it’s these hooks that make the album extremely listenable.

Songs like “A Different Someone” have much more in common with the sound of Bush than they do with Deftones, with soaring vocals of Wally Wood riding high over the top of a big rock assemblage of ringing chords with a confident grace and a substantial amount of passionate emotion.

Allele is focused on going for the big rock score and much of the time they hit their mark. There’s no denying that “Stitches” has everything that those who favor this style would find enticing. Expansive, poignantly melodic and striving toward a sonic locality which listeners will immediately pick up on, Allele's debut is one that every rock fan will have an easy time enjoying.


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