It's all about the riffs for these English lads: big, thick, rumbling and sometimes peculiar riffs. I have to say that I have always had a deep affinity and a strong weakness for this kind of music. There has always been a warm and cozy feeling to music that takes a lot of influence from the stoner and doom genre, no matter how heavy it generally is. Inside the Difference Engine is no different even though it also has a lot of offbeat structures and riffs that give the recording some contrast to great effect. Instead of simply relying on one formula, End of Level Boss has enough sense and also great musicianship to mix up their sound with a wide array of influences.
I believe one link has already been mentioned many a time in previous reviews and brought up in interviews, and that link is Voivod. The legendary Canadians are seen as a big influence but it may have been mentioned a bit too much already, especially since there are a lot of other sounds to be heard in End of Level Boss's music. There is no denying that Voivod's inspiration on these guys is quite palpable and that is particularly easy to hear in the innovative structures and sharp riffs in opener "Selfishnegativevibemerchant," "Words Have no Meaning" and the repetitive angularity of album close "Connortations." The homage is undeniably there but has been put in the forefront enough to almost blot out the counterbalancing sounds.
One particular vibe that I was pleased with when listening to Inside the Difference Engine is that of Alice in Chains and early Soundgarden. I sincerely mean this as a great compliment because I grew up with worshipping many of these bands' recordings. The sludgy guitars and the rhythmic groove of "Mr. Dinosaur is Lost" sounds so much like Soundgarden's "Outshined" or any Alice in Chains song that it brings back some dear memories from my teenage years. Together these sounds work to compile a very enthralling recording and despite the mentioning of influences, End of Level Boss are not derivative but original enough in their own right.
To summarize everything, I can say that Inside the Difference Engine is a very enjoyable listening experience. The songwriting carries a lot of quality and it's really good that all tunes are quite different from one another since that contributes to keeping your interest up throughout the eight song long album.
