Coriolis started out as a one-man project by Jonathan P. Stamets. The band name was derived from the colossal storms in the book, Dune. The 2004 self-titled debut gained a fan base in the underground industrial and goth scenes in America. When a second pressing became necessary, Coriolis partnered with Youngside Records and released a special edition with the bonus track “Cry Wolf”. The line-up evolved into Jonathan P. Stamets (vocals, guitar & keyboard), Dan Schultz (lead guitar) and Jim Yanus (drums & programming) for the release of their concept album “The Endless Funeral” (2010).
The Coriolis debut album was heavily influenced by Rammstein and Rob Zombie. However, their sophomore release has a more industrial/electronic hard rock and gothic feel likened to Nine Inch Nails and chock full of dark emotions. In fact, it is so dark and despondent in places that it ought to come with a health warning!
The concept is about starting out with the child-like optimism that everything will be alright, only to be let down by friends, respected authority figures and ultimately by God. ‘Welcome To My World (part 1) melds industrial beats to jagged synth and guitar intersections. The up-tempo ‘Thank You’ has dense swirling synth and heavy riffing in contrast to the innocent chorus “From the bottom of my heart I thank you / I can’t fathom where to start, but thank you / From a world so over-run with bitterness and strife / I was sheltered all my life, so thank you”. Surprisingly ‘All For One’ opens like a 90’s dance mix before overlaying hard rock guitar.
The melodic nature of ‘Lie?’ serves to underline the growing unease with life. This becomes more disturbing in ‘Everything Must Go’ and gives way to the tightening grip of desperation and despair in ‘See You In Hell’. As you might expect ‘The Endless Funeral’ is all about pain and death. This is all heading downhill and ‘Weight Of The World’ ends with “I’m under attack now, its raining crap on my world / As you keep your silence, the violence defiles my soul / I’m feeling hostile and it’s getting hard to control”. Bizarrely it also contains a pennywhistle section!
The final epic ‘Welcome To My World (part 3) opens with slow heartbeats and realising that there is no-one left to rely upon except God, who you are still angry with. It has a mournful quality with the drawn out vocals, softer melody and background noises. The heartbeats slow down, become irregular and then there is the drawing of a final breath and a long silence. After almost two minutes the heart starts beating again and the album ends.
Rating: 7/10
Reviewed by Peter John Willoughby
Tracks:
Intro
Welcome to my World (Part 1)
Thank You
All for One
Lie?
Same as it Ever Was
Everything Must Go
Welcome to my World (Part2)
See you in Hell
The Endless Funeral
Weight of the World
Welcome to my World (Part3)
Band members:
Jonathan P. Stamets-vocals, keys, and programming
Dan Schultz-guitar
Jim Yanus-drums,
kL-live keys
Record Label: Youngside Records, 2010
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