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 The Ravenmasters: Painkillers (EP) 
[Ionik]

The Ravenmasters debut EP on Ionik Records is titled Painkillers, which seems fitting considering that it sounds as if the Ravenmasters may be on some and I mean that in the nicest way.  This EP is a somber collection of songs with psychedelic flavors.  The members combine a vast mixture of influences, the most apparent being that of the Beatles.   The studio where all the songs on this EP were recorded is even named Strawberry Fields.  The opening track, Self-Portrait, starts out strong, reminding me in a very vague way of Filter in the way they distort voices and rock out.  The ideas are strong, and the musical talent is quite apparent.  However, much of the material seems unguided and somewhat lacking in forethought.  These boys should have jumped right into making a proper full-length album and not wasted precious time on an EP.  The band seems to be overwrought with ideas, and this culminates in each song being overdone and sounding inordinately experimental.  Im all for getting crazy, but I suppose I just prefer a more controlled craziness it would help here by providing fluidity to songs that seem to have much potential.

Track four, The 13^th Floor, proves to be the most consistent song on the record with some excellent guitar solos, gloomy, pleading lyrics, and even a tambourine thrown in for good measure.  There is no real experimentation here just straight feeling.  The other four songs do their best to get the Ravenmasters spirit across.  Sometimes the vocal stylings of Giovanni Massari are quite reminiscent of one Elvis Costello, but mostly they are his own, wrapped in the envelope of the wandering, experimental sounds of this EP.

This album can be purchased at Ionik Records

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