THE QUILL, “FULL CIRCLE”: ALBUM REVIEW

By Evil Jon

If you’re anything like me you came of age in the 90’s and every now and then you wish that SOUNDGARDEN would get back together and put out a new album (apparently that wish will be granted at some point this year). But for anyone who didn’t want to wait for that band’s first new material in 13 years, check out THE QUILL, “Full Circle” (Metalville Records, July 2011).

Noting the vintage 70’s vibe of the cover art, I hit play on this album expecting some semblance of the sludgy realms traversed by bands like THE SWORD or MASTODON. But as soon as the vocals popped in on the first track I thought; ‘Holy shit…it’s Chris Cornell!’

In fact, it was not Chris Cornell but instead, his Swedish vocal stunt double Magnus Arnar. Not to knock this guy’s own talent, but man is he a dead ringer for Cornell (vocally). You can kind of hear a difference in the mellow parts but when he projects he’s really got Cornell’s timbre…same gritty tone to the sustained falsetto wails that sold all those copies of “Badmotorfinger” and “Superunknown”.

ANYWAY…I was obviously preoccupied by THE QUILL’s similarities to SOUNDGARDEN while listening to the record. And surprisingly they didn’t end with the vocals. The musical style on “Full Circle” has a lot in common with early SOUNDGARDEN. Though I will say, while I can get behind Christian Carlsson’s guitar playing on the album, I wasn’t as in love with the tone. A lot of it has a raspy, nasal quality ala pushed Marshall Plexi that tends to fatigue my ears a bit. I know it was huge back in the day but an entire album full of it is too much for me.

I also found my attention dwindling about mid-way through the album which reminded me that I’ve always had a problem listening to straight-ahead rock albums all the way through. After a few songs things start to get a little boring. After a few listens you find your handful of favorites and stick with those.  

For me, what my opinion of this album comes down to is a decision between whether it’s good or whether it’s a good impression of another band. My verdict is a 40/60 split in favor of the latter. It’s definitely a good record if you love SOUNDGARDEN but there’s just not enough originality there to get “Full Circle” an A in my book.

3 out of 5 stars.