Femme Metal

The French outfit Pin-Up Went Down is nearly impossible to describe. Their debut album, "2 Unlimited" was a wonderfully bizarre piece of art, that saw the band mixing multi influences ranging from metal to funk, to alternative and whatever else they could come up with, and now the band is a back with their brand of avant-garde metal on their new release, "342".

"Diapositive" is the opening track. A disarmingly serene intro gets things rolling. The female vocals of Asphodel begin this track, before the song develops into a heavy groove-filled opener that sees multi-instrumentalist Alexis Damien joining in with his Death Metal style vocals. The song is literally all over the place and adds funk elements to the mix. The next track, "Escargot" is completely different from the previous track; this song is just Asphodel performing a cappella style. This was the highlight for me, just a beautiful song that makes the most of its two and a half minutes. "Porcelain Hours" is next and one of the more mainstream sounding tracks. Other highlights include: "Essence Of I", "Pictures To Speak To" and "Aquarium". Fans of their debut will undoubtedly come to appreciate what Pin-Up Went Down has up their sleeves on "342".

Pin-Up Went Down is a band with no inhibitions and absolutely no limits. "342" is further proof of this fact. Adding this many influences and nuances, it would be easy for an album such as this to be a disjointed mess, but the opposite holds true on "342". Pin-Up Went Down, somehow manage to create a coherent album that is every bit as good and interesting as their debut.

Rating – 93/100
Review By Tony Cannella