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Alarum.
Things have been pretty quiet in the Alarum camp of late. The prolific gigging the Melbourne quartet have maintained since the release of the 1997 debut 'Fluid Motion' became unsustainable while writing and recording the ambitious and anticipated follow-up, 'Eventuality'. Only now have Alarum resurfaced from some much-needed time away from the live circuit with a tightly focussed and painstakingly crafted second album which they feel most successfully captures the direction they seek to achieve as a band.
"Overall, it's more of a reflection of who Alarum really is," says vocalist and bass player Mark Palfreyman. "The first album was very new, and reflective of the fact that the four of us had only been together for about a year before we recorded that album. Since then, we've had the chance to develop as a band, and this is now more of an indication of these four people together as a band writing music."
Alarum formed in 1992 as a straightforward death metal band, but it wasn't until Palfreyman and guitarist Scott Young joined the band in late 1995 and early 1996 that Alarum's now-distinctive sound began to develop. Like Cynic and Athiest before them, Alarum began to explore the possibilities of a metal-jazz fusion.
However, moments of their earlier work were often jarring and discordant. The dissonant chordal structures of the jazz, combined with frequent, unexpected transitions between riffs meant that Alarum could sometimes be an alienating listening experience: more often a music lesson for technically-minded metalheads than a source of corporeal, visceral pleasure.
On the new album that technicality is equally undeniable. With musical textures that are startling in their dexterity and complexity, 'Eventuality' is an intricate and enormously challenging release; but this time around, the Alarum have centred their songwriting more on the song form itself than on the flashiness of technical trickery.
"When they hear this album, people may hear that there are more hooks, more catchiness, more grooves," the softly-spoken vocalist elaborates. "We're finding that we're not changing as much all the time: for us it's now more about writing songs and giving things their place. We're trying to give balance between flowing melody and catchiness, but also challenging time signatures or musical expression that are not so easy listening - trying to find a fine line between being creative in both ways.
"And this is only album number two," he adds. "With album number three we might find our feet more to the point where listeners can find it easier at times, but at other times it might even be more difficult - that's the way we like to write our music... It's definitely not something you can listen to straight away and digest it - there's so much in it that over time, I think people will appreciate it more and more as they get more familiar with it."
As Palfreyman says, the band hopes that listeners can appreciate they way Alarum "opens their ears up to something different, [and] that's not necessarily easy listening. Something that grabs your attention is basically altering your awareness on some level," the bass player continues. "That can be from a musical perspective, but can also relate to an underlying lyrical point of view as well."
On 'Eventuality', this lyrical point of view is the verbal equivalent of what the music sets out to achieve: both challenge the listener by altering conventional expectations. As Palfreyman elaborates: "With the lyrics, we look at our own experiences and what goes on in the world and try to approach it with a more positive frame of mind to the point where it's not so much harping on what's wrong as it about find what inspires us to overcome things...
"Meaningless negative themes aren't really related to who I am as a person or who we are as a band," he continues. "We're just four ordinary people trying to live our lives, but live it in a way that we can be as happy and as comfortable as possible. So we try and look at everything that goes on in the world and put it out there for people. Not in a way that's forceful - we're not trying to put opinions into anyone's minds - it's just more about offering creative ideas."
With an Australian tour to promote the new album currently underway, Alarum are now looking towards opportunities abroad. 'Eventuality' is slated for an international release with a view to follow it up with an overseas tour before heading back into the studio to record their third album sometime next year. "We don't want there to be a massive gap between albums now that we've found our feet and the band is moving along the way we want it to," Palfreyman remarks.
Before that, listeners will need to take some time to digest and comprehend the sometimes baffling, sometimes compelling, but constantly challenging new album.
"For people that have or haven't heard us before, hopefully they can be open-minded enough to either give us a listen or come to see us live and make up their own mind," the vocalist exhorts. "It might not be for everyone..., but we'd like to encourage people to check out not only us, but all forms of music and all bands as well. It's about being open-minded and seeing what's out there in life - which, I suppose, is what 'Eventuality' is all about."
Michelle Phillipov
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Alarum launch 'Eventuality' at the Enigma Bar on Sat 6 Nov with Chalice, Omnium Gatherum and Murder Hill.
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