Tammatoys - Conflict

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TAMMATOYS is a Progressive Rock Sextet based out of Norway. With under 1,000 FB likes and no information from their record label page, it was impossible to find their line-up. From their Bandcamp page, “The idea behind TAMMATOYS was to make Prog Rock with inspiration from bands such as PORCUPINE TREE, THE CHURCH, GENESIS, and PINK FLOYD, interspersed with a dose of pop with the melodies at the forefront. “Conflicts” contains five tracks.

“I Will Follow” leads off the album. It begins with spoken word, talking about “wherever I look, there is nothing but conflict. Tense, easy tones follow, fueled by harmonic vocals and a dreamy sound overall. There is not much in the way of sonority here, it’s quite minimalistic. “Downfall” is over ten-minutes in length. Opening with the steady strum of guitar and some keys, there is a dark atmosphere in the background. The vocals are easy on the ears…kind of like THE CURE. The vocals drop, and it’s just bass guitar thumping away with some leads over top. Darkness permeates the entire track. Around the half-way mark, it transitions to clean guitars and some hopeful sounds.

“Politics” features a similar sound…easy guitar and vocal tones with discernable bass lines and keys. Some dark keys swell towards the end, bringing in an even darker tone. “The Conflict (Part I) is a fourteen-minute opus. Taking its time to develop in the beginning, there are several conversations in the background, under some soft keys and guitar. It’s close to four minutes before vocals come in. That “easy listening” sound is back, with some accents here and there. Some dissonant tones come into play around the half-way mark. The sound then drops almost to nothing but some distant sirens and yelling in the background. Piano notes carry the song at this point…dark and quiet.

“Time” closes the album…an eight-minute track. It begins with some keys that are positive sounding, as well as the vocals. From there, it moves slowly, without much else going on. Overall, this was a bit of a strange album for me. There just wasn’t much in the way of sonority overall. Much of the album was quiet, with slow moving passages with just steady bass and keys providing much of the sound. What was missing was the big emotional accents that often accompany Progressive Rock music. It wasn’t overly melodic either. The album has potential, but the band has to find a way for their music to have more of an impact on the listener, either good or bad.

Songwriting: 5
Musicianship: 7
Memorability: 5
Production: 8