Ektomorf
Instinct

May 2005
Released: 2005, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 1.5/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Ektomorf was founded by the Farkas brothers, originally from Hungary back in ‘94 and soon became well known in the underground scene. Their debut HANGOK came in 1996 and the album was a mix of hardcore/metal and above all Romantic folk (?). With that album they earned a loyal fanbase in Hungary. Their second self-titled album was unleashed ‘98 and in 2000 came KALYI JAG which means BLACK FIRE. It was on that album the band was gifted with a new drummer in József.



The guys have been out on the road with Pro Pain and Fear Factory and their biggest successes by far were the festival shows during ‘04 when they played at With Full Force, Wacken, Rock am Ring and Rock in Park amongst others.



At the end of ‘03 Ektomorf went to Denmark and the well known studio Antfarm and worked with producer Tue Madsen (Mnemic, The Haunted, Disbelief, Illdisposed etc) on what later became DESTROY that came last year. On INSTINCT have the band returned to Antfarm and once again used Tue as producer.



Ektomorf is listed as thrash/metal/hardcore and if you read further on down in the bio it says “Tight drumming and bass licks will crumble the foundation of any building together with the thunder storms of grueling tramping riffs, energetic lead melodies and aggressive punk influences” who the hell writes these bios one can wonder when you’ve read this one. It also says “Ektomorf managed to sound like Sepultura, Soulfly and Slayer”.



And when you put on the album you can actually think that it’s Sepultura or Soulfly that’s playing ‘cause Ektomorf sounds almost exactly like Sepultura. Zoltán on vocal and lead guitar sounds incredibly like Max Cavalera and the music sounds like Soulfly or like Sepultura did around the release of ARISE and CHAOS A.D.



Zoltán sings exactly in the same way that Max did during the early Sepultura days both vocal wise and in the same bad English Max sang back in the late 80’s, early 90’s. I can agree with the similarities with old school ‘90’s thrash metal but I can’t hear any punk or hardcore influences whatsoever. It also seems like they have written about similar subjects like Sepultura and Soulfly in their lyrics, just take a look at the titles.



Ektomorf consists of 4 members, Zoltán, Csaba, Tamas and József and they run through 12 tracks on INSTINCT. My impression of the album is that they have a lot of ability and ideas but they don’t know where to put it, so instead of making something unique and something of their own they’re simply copying another band and hope for the best.



But there is something positive about this album and that’s, of course, the brilliant production by Tue Madsen. He’s created a heavy/hard/aggressive and brutal soundpicture with a lot of space for riffing guitars and lead vocals. I supposed that they were eager to try to have a production identical with Sepultura but fortunately had Tue the good taste to update Ektomorfs soundpicture for the 21st century.



I think that this band have a lot of question marks to solve before they try to take on the world and instead of buying a rip off make sure to invest in the real deal instead. Even the cover looks like a Soulfly cover and maybe they should focus on being a tribute band to Sepultura and call themselves Sepulnation or something witty like that.



Instead of listening to this album another time in order of trying to find out any killer tracks I think I’ll lay back and listen to ARISE with Sepultura instead of wasting any more of my time. And if they have sounded like this on their earlier albums I’m glad that I haven’t heard them before.

Ektomorf
Instinct

July 2005
Released: 2005, Nuclear Blast
Rating: 2.0/5
Reviewer: Lord of the Wasteland

Two words sum up this band: Hungarian Soulfly. On Ektomorf’s sixth release, INSTINCT, the band continues to blend exotic instrumentation, tribal drumming and downtuned riffs with hardcore breakdowns and a punishing bottom-end. Ektomorf also shares Soulfly’s tendency to pander to the nu-metal crowd and the wallet-chain and baggy-panted crowd will lap this up. It’s difficult to imagine that INSTINCT will appeal to even the most open-minded of metalhead, though the sheer ferocity of the music may win some over. With production helmed once again by none other than up-and-coming knob-twiddler Tue Madsen (The Haunted, Mnemic, Disbelief, Heaven Shall Burn), the sound is groovy and crushing with a fat bottom-end and a tight drum sound. You can actually FEEL the songs on INSTINCT more than just hear them and that makes for a memorable listening experience. Unfortunately, INSTINCT loses points for its use of clichéd “tough guy” lyrics and, well, the whole Soulfly copycat thing.



“Set Me Free” is so close in sound, rhythm and pacing to Soulfly’s “Eye For An Eye” that Max Cavalera himself ought to be dialing up his legal team. The downtuned guitars, barked delivery and chugga-chugga riffing echoes all that made Cavalera the enemy of dyed-in-the-wool metalheads. Being a fan of the first Soulfly album, my contempt lies in the unevenness of the band’s material but Ektomorf clearly is paying more than just homage here. “Show Your Fist” is an exotic hardcore-influenced track beefed up with tribal drumming that makes it one of the standout tracks but things go sour on the title track which owes more to the dreaded nu-metal inflections of Static-X and some of Soulfly’s worst moments. Beg your pardon for stating the obvious but “Fuck You All” and “I Break You” are the type of tracks that makes bands like this intolerable to metalheads. The attitude and absolute meat-headedness of the very titles of these songs annoyed me before I even heard them and further cemented my instinct afterwards. The instrumental “Land of Pain” is an interesting break in the action with Middle Eastern chants and haunting instrumentation but the rest of the tracks bleed together like one big repetitive nightmare. Okay guys…you’re pissed off at the world and have listened to ROOTS BLOODY ROOTS one too many times. WE GET IT!!



Unoriginal, monotonous and saddled with more clichés than a beer commercial, INSTINCT is the epitome of the kind of metal geared towards making fourteen year olds in camouflage and bandanas feel tough. Soulfly and THE BURNING RED-era Machine Head worshippers may dig this release and there are a few bright moments here and there but trust your instincts and avoid this one.



KILLER KUTS: “Set Me Free,” “Show Your Fist,” “Land of Pain”