Floor
[No Idea Records]

It took them ten years, but Floor finally came out with a full-length. Floor is one of those bands that has a serious cult following. They've been around for a long time, gradually building their fan base and perfecting their craft. This album not only marks their jump from 7" mainstays to CD champions, but it also marks their turn from harsh vocals to clean vocals almost exclusively.

Floor claim that their sound came about when one of their guitarists broke his E string at practice. It just dangled there, but they liked the sound and decided to keep it that way. In case you didn't get that, Floor like to down tune on a level that most bands would deem ludicrous. However, they don't exploit that heaviness as if it were a gimmick. They also don't stoop to simply overdoing the bass sounds in the mix in order to sound heavier than they really are. Their production is pristine. They write great songs that just happen to be heavier than lead, no gimmicks needed. OK, there is the closing instrumental song (which doesn't have a name, just a triangle symbol) which might just be the heaviest song in existence and is the only song on the album that really exploits their heaviness in a gimmicky way, but I have to admit, it's still damn cool.

The first thing that will hit you is that their songs are short for being doom. Really short. The average song length is about 2:30 and there isn't a single song that goes over 3:30. One song even clocks in at a mere 53 seconds. Read: doom for people with attention deficit disorder. This isn't to say that they truncate their songs. They are complete songs that aren't any longer than they need to be. Floor doesn't achieve their short song lengths by playing at high speed, either. Aside from a couple songs, everything's slow to mid-pace.

The second thing you'll notice is the punk feeling to the vocals. While there is plenty of harmonizing and layering to these great vocal melodies, the vocals keep a slightly raw punk quality that really gives them a unique flavor and works very well most of the time. Unfortunately, this is also the source of the only imperfection of the album. On rare occasion, the vocals are just a little off key - a little too punk, perhaps? It doesn't really detract from the musical excellence overall, but it is a minor quibble for a perfectionist like myself. I'm hoping they'll iron this out in the future.

Floor is a truly original doom band. Memorable, often brilliant, always heavy. There's just nothing like them. This is doom, but it's unlike any doom you will have ever heard. Here's hoping that they don't wait another ten years to put out their next full-length.