Narrow Head - Moments of Clarity (2023)^{Release ID: 42532}

The promise of some Deftones influence in any band's sound instantly puts them on a solid footing for me to venture into checking out at least one or more of their releases.  Narrow Head do not fail to live up to that promise either.  There are times during Moments of Clarity when you could be forgiven for thinking they are the Deftones.  They wear that influence on their sleeves with pride and do a very good job of representing the nu-metal/hazy alternative metal sound along the way.  My problem with MoC is not that it anyway apes or simply copies an already well-sampled blueprint.  The issue I have with this record is simply that is boring.

There is an overwhelming sense of positivity in the sound of Narrow Head that I just cannot bear.  Notwithstanding that I am most definitely not a happy person 90% of the time, the good vibes here are still too much and the album fails to shine with any maturity or sensibility at all.  Tracks just seem to merge into one.  With no depth to the song writing there are no standout moments to pick up on and no variance in the emotions to hammer home any real point to the record.

My forays into The Gateway are very infrequent and it is the fear of finding records like this that give me that mindset.  Far too safe and far too staid as a result.