Album Reviews : Kaamora – Lambs To The Slaughter

Kaamora are a young band from Ballarat who have recently released Lambs To The Slaughter, an entirely independent effort from top to bottom, and despite some inherent flaws that can be put down to a lack of  experience, it is a debut of some discernable merit.

Having listened to the CD quite a few times there is no doubt that Kaamora have put a great deal of effort into every aspect of Lambs To The Slaughter. All artwork is courtesy of vocalist Luke Greenwood and the mix and mastering was done by drummer Dylan Jones after recording at Groove Studios in their home town which results in a robust yet still slightly raw production.

Of course all that means little if the music itself isn’t up to scratch so opener Tempest Rising starts things on quite a positive note with the added enhancement of some tasteful orchestration courtesy of the Koch Orchestra, a precocious attempt that works quite well. Other songs such as Educating The Worms and Birth Of The Digital God are built around some very sturdy guitar work and ever present grooves that seem to find their way into each of the songs.

There is nothing inherently wrong with Lambs To The Slaughter, overall it is an enjoyable listen based around some solid ideas and competent execution by all involved, however that could also be nominated as its major shortcoming. Everything here is just that, competent, and despite being well played there is also an apparent lack of individuality to enable Kaamora to truly stand out from the masses and stick in the listeners’ memory.

Fortunately the talent of the band that does shine through offers hope and, once you allow for the fact that this is their debut release, I would suggest that such shortcomings are excusable at such an early stage of Kaamora’s development. With a bit more experience and further refinement of their sound the potential is there and I would certainly be interested to see where they go from here.

6/10

Band: Kaamora
Album: Lambs To The Slaughter
Year: 2009
Genre: Death/Groove Metal
Label: Self Released
Origin: Ballarat, Australia
http://www.myspace.com/kaamora

Track Listing
1. Into The Storm
2. Tempest Rising
3. Ruptured
4. Educating The Worms
5. Soul Of A Machine
6. Birth Of The Digital God
7. End Of An Aeon