Future Static
Liminality – Wild Thing Records
Although Future Static’s debut album Liminality has been two years in gestation, they certainly
aren’t procrastinators, and if proof were needed then just check out opening song ‘Chemical
Lobotomy’. Like the proverbial bat out of hell it arrives with little warming, and is all the more
powerful for it. The band play with mechanical exactitude and fit together like a series of
interconnecting cogs, but don’t write them off as a soulless machine because there’s plenty of
heart here, and that’s thanks to bassist Kira Neil and front-woman Amariah Cook who trade
vocals impressively. It’s a partnership that’s akin to fire and ice, lifting the listener to the heavens
on the soaring ‘Icarus’ before crashing down on the stormy ‘Waves’. This is an album that’s
constantly changing gears, it doesn’t stay in the same sonic space for long, and while this could
make for an epileptic listen, the band’s segues are so smooth you hardly notice the shifts. A
couple of guest appearances further spice the mix, but the album’s pièce de résistance is closer
‘The Embers’ which makes for an epic conclusion. The type of metal which Future Static play
has traditionally been viewed as a boy’s club, but Liminality brings the ladies to the fore, and it
proves a wise move.
Review by Peter Dennis