Beware Of Safety are a Post-Rock band. Sounds simple and plain enough. As they do reside in a genre known for aping their forefathers in a near religious way does little for any band that chooses this route. Many of these bands rely on what the first 3 Mogwai albums taught them. Start calm, build with some heavy parts, climax and release. It isn't even an issue of copying as much as it is lack of originality in how to put this simple framework into practice. where certain bands have made their own little piece of the style by putting some personality into their music whether that includes vocals, alternate instruments or just general skill.
The question in this case is has Beware Of Safety been able to really bring something different to the table. The answer is sort of. On their sophomore album the band uses their skills to help insert some different influences into their style.
On opener "Meridian" the band start simple and slowly build and delves into a structure that shows a serious metallic influence that involves nondescript screaming, double bass drums and heavy undulating guitars. This helps to act as a precursor of sorts to help show that the band intends to do more with their sound than just be a copy of a copy. With the promise that this song tends to show it seems almost forgotten by the next song. "Kevin Spacey" seems to rely on the standards of the genre rather that put any personal touch on it. This is not to say it is bad at all, the song is played very well with a strong sense of dynamics there just seems to not be much to make the listener be able to say "This is a Beware Of Safety song" sight unseen.
The fairly new inclusion of a bass player does have a marked effect on the songs as a whole though, This helps to give the band a fuller more encompassing sound. They also give the bass a chance to shine in parts of songs giving a bit of a different touch from their peers as well. Needless to say, BoS have a very strong handle on their instruments nothing sounds sloppy or out of place. This translates to the production itself which relies on a very clean mix that allows each instrument to have their share of the limelight.
With all of the positives i have mentioned there is still a major flaw in this record. The unfortunate lack of a particularly discerning sound to the band on the whole. The strength of their opener is rarely equated throughout the rest of the album. The band play consistently and with force but with little to set them apart from the pack. This is the downside because as the band are easily above average and clearly capable they still don't feel like they are their own band entirely.
