Yellow & Green

Apparently, just one primary color was no longer enough to cover the volume of ideas produced by Atlanta, Georgia's for its third long-playing release, and thus the 2012 follow-up to 2007's and 2009's has become an 18-song double set named . The irony is there's no obvious cohesive theme or musical direction particular to either color ( might be a shade more morose, if at all), as each contains an equally schizophrenic array of musical touchstones, too eclectic to easily categorize. In fact, the biggest headline about this release pertains to something else entirely, and that is ' not entirely unexpected evolution into something other than a heavy metal band; one focused on expanding its arsenal of sounds and moods while embracing big choruses and more commercial songwriting tricks targeting maximum immediacy. "March to the Sea," for example, boasts a new wave pulse and singing harmonies a la , while "Little Things" borrows something from (and "Sea Lungs" from !); the melancholy country of "Green Theme" owes more to than or anything metallic, for that matter, while the gothic folk of "Twinkler" takes a left-hand path approach to ' wistful vocal choir; and perhaps most telling, a few cuts like "Cocainium" and "Back Where I Belong" feature keyboards more prominently than guitars. When those six-strings do get plugged in and their Marshalls properly cranked for songs like misleadingly heavy opener "Take My Bones Away," the Thin Lizzy-praising "Board Up the House," or the thunder pop nugget "The Line Between," it's not like they've been stripped of all their cojones and distortion (and these had already been toned down for the ), but the higher melodic quotient puts them squarely into the hard rock category, at most. And while one can't help but respect ' general bravura and overwhelming success rate on these songs, the band inevitably falls flat on its face now and then, including a second-half stretch spanning the sleepy "Foolsong," the snoring drones of "Collapse," and the horror show "Psalms Alive" (which admittedly, does come alive near the end). In sum: undertakes such a massive creative leap that only time will tell whether it goes down as a triumph or a blunder. In fairness to ' heavy metal fan constituency, all this experimentation has almost nothing in common with the band's initial, -inspired post-metal EPs; but between the steady maturation displayed by those ensuing color-coded works and the quantity of songs here, both undeniably infectious and innovative, many more fans are bound to embark on the Georgians' strange, strange ride. Chances are, it will get even stranger from here on out. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia