IO review

IO - It was Lost in the Fire we Started (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 6/10

To start, I would just like to clear something up. The ‘IO’ this review will discuss is not the German rock band also titled ‘IO’. Instead, this review is solely concerned with Birmingham "post, metal, math, rock" collective, IO. Now that that has been dealt with, I hope that you are now relatively aware of what this review will be centred around so I may continue.

IO’s recently released EP, itwaslostinthefirewestarted, is apparently based on the "melodies whistled by Garth Marenghi." As an avid Marenghi fan, this is rather exciting. Sadly, IO are simply employing some humour into their work, as their EP is not intrinsically Garth. However, it is an interesting culmination of various instrumental styles that are well expressed throughout the twenty-minute affair. So, really, it’s more of a David Brent style "melting pot." British comedy classics aside, itwaslostinthefirewestarted is quite good.

However, attention must be drawn to the use of "quite" in the previous sentence. IO do expel the clumsiness of verging on "emo"-metal that the Midlands has offered for the past few years, but unless IO start creating some ideas of their own, they are no doubt destined to stay firmly routed in there. IO cite influences ranging from Sunn O))) to Efterklang, but I would hazard the guess that their peers are certainly more home grown. Instrumental acts such as Inertia Blooms and Epic45 are quickly becoming the granddaddies of the Midlands instrumental music scene and if IO wish to surpass the standards set by these acts they need to move away from the formulaic and onto new ground. Indeed, it is not that IO are not aware of the need for change, itwaslostinthefirewestarted at some instances, offers the listener some new points of perspective, for example, "And This is Our Victory Dance" is an undeniably strong song. Yet it is followed with "Girl-on-Girl," which almost erases the previous composition with its stifling sense of reliance on the old.

I am not suggesting that IO need to move away from any influences and into some weird ideal of music-modernity, but instead that the group need to carefully cultivate their sound. At the time of writing, IO have recently scheduled a tour of France. Hopefully, this will kick-start IO’s career, as although they are currently a growing local act, they definitely deserve more recognition. Might I suggest that in order to gain this recognition, IO definitely do need to add more to that melting pot of theirs, though.