PHILM – Harmonic
PHILM – Harmonic CD (Ipecac)
PHILM is a new trio made up of members of War, Civil Defiance and Dave Lombardo from Slayer. You could be forgiven for not instantly recognising Pancho Tomaselli or Gerry Nestler, but any self respecting music fan should be more than familiar with drummer Dave Lombardo of thrash metal legends, Slayer. PHILM is a difficult band to pin down, which can either be seen as a blessing or a curse. In the case of Harmonic, it’s a little from Column A and a little from Column B. The album ranges from punk to jazz to metal to psychedelia and even nu metal, often in the space of one song, but it’s very hit and miss. Unlike artists like Fantomas, John Zorn or Mike Patton, the playfulness with genres doesn’t quite seem to work for PHILM a lot of the time. There are some stand out moments, but the overall feeling is of a band who have recorded an album that isn’t worth more than the sum of it’s own parts. The songs sometimes come across as being quite aimless, and Dave Lombardo seems to struggle with coming up with interesting drum parts when his kit is vastly scaled down from his usual set up. Ipecac is usually home to a lot more interesting music than PHILM. It’s not that Harmonic is an awful album, but it’s very inconsistent and has the definite feel of a side project for everyone involved. Gareth Moule
