### Clock Paradox: The five precepts

#### 21/02/11 || Khlysty

Not sure if this is a demo, or an E.P., or something. It’s self-released, for sure, but the sound quality is pretty good and the production speaks of at least some time in the studio and not of an one-afternoon-do-it-fast recording. So, on that front, at least, Clock Paradox get one point: this little piece of music sounds pretty good.

But, hey, as one of you GD faithfuls might point out, also boy-bands of yore had good production, right? But their music was shit. So, what about Clock-guys music, huh? Well, on the surface, one might call this prog death and he won’t be off the mark, either. The music is complex, rhythmically convoluted, technically demanding and dense: there is nary a moment during these five songs that there’s not a shitload of shit happening and if one wants to decipher everything that, say, the rhythm guitar or the bass is doing, one has to listen to the songs repeatedly.

Usually, for me, this is a warning to stay away from such music, as I actively hate this super-dense, nigh-incomprehensible strain of death metal (with a few exceptions, of course, but you get my meaning…). But in the case of Clock Paradox, I found myself actually enjoying the music — a lot. Even though I do not belong to the caste of cognoscenti who can easily discern the influences of these Finns, I found myself referencing Meshuggah — in a very simplified manner — plus a bit of Gorguts, as things that the band probably spent a lot of time listening to, along with a bit of Dysrhythmia’s math-y complexity.

As I’ve already said about Jack Slater’s record, “The Five Precepts” contains songs that are groovy and memorable, with the complexity and prog tendencies actually working as enhancements of the already interesting riffing. Another plus is the drum sound which is so fucking lively and organic that I was hooked from the first moment I listened to it. On the minus side, now, the vocals (a raspy scream/growl combo) are really nothing to write home about, although they really don’t mess up the songs. Anyway, to cap things off, this is complex enough to tickle the pleasure centers of tech-death freaks all around and approachable enough to be enjoyable by us non-math-inclined metalheadz. Generally, it’s pretty good and I grace it with a…

- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: self-released
- Website: www.clockparadoxband.com
- Band
- Jouni Koskela: vocals
- Jyrki Hiltunen: guitar
- Antti Karhu: guitar, vocals
- Timo Tyynismaa: bass
- Jani Kuorikoski: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. F21
- 02. Footprints
- 03. Phantom pain
- 04. For the unity we breath
- 05. The perfect canvas