Twelve Foot Ninja – Outlier (Album Review)

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Plugga73

TWELVE FOOT NINJA – Outlier

OUT: August 26th, 2016

TWELVE FOOT NINJA Line up:

TWELVE FOOT NINJA online:

Try describing Aussie quintet, Twelve Foot Ninja to the uninitiated and you’ll no doubt come up with anything from Faith No More and Mr Bungle to Meshuggah to some underground ‘60s jazz funk band thrown into the mix. They are different! It’s this ‘difference’ that is the charm of Twelve Foot Ninja and has them on all sorts of tours both here and overseas. The genre bending band are about to release album #2, Outlier and the hype surrounding the release is building.

Out August 26 – believe the hype. Prepare for world domination….Outlier is a gem.

Three years in the making, Outlier, is a ten track slab of everything you love about Twelve Foot Ninja. Schizophrenic to its core, dripping in djenty goodness, breakdowns galore, deftly integrating funk interludes and even some weird Commodore 64-like noises (wait until you hear ‘Dig For Bones’). Did I mention the Indian Sitar? I kid you not, creating a Twelve Foot Ninja album must be like piecing together a 10,000 piece puzzle in complete darkness. Somehow the band get there in the end and the result is spectacular.

Most TFN fans will have already heard lead single, ‘One Hand Killing’. Released last year it teased the masses and offers a great start to Outlier, bludgeoning its way with down tuned guitars and Kin Etik’s powerful vocals. Etik’s vocals are worth mentioning. Perhaps, more pronounced than Silent Machine, Etik sways through melody to the genteel to angered moments. Mike Patton fans will be impressed.

Highlights include ‘Invincible’ which will have the listener no doubt singing along too in no time. Probably the most melodic TFN track you’ll hear. The funk infused sometimes jazzy ‘Post Mortem’ offers another crowning moment as guitarists, Stevic MacKay and Rohan Hayes battle away in see-saw fashion as they attempt to combine the crazy musical juxtaposition.

As mentioned previously, ‘Dig for Bones’ saves the most intricate of work last as the Ninja’s affray from metal to jazz to video game nuances. It’s as if ‘Street Fighter’ has come to life within the TFN framework and it is a beautiful thing to saviour. Again, it shouldn’t work; but it does.

….and therein lies the charm of a Twelve Foot Ninja album. It’s the unknown, the schizo yet melodic. Yep, it’s hard to describe this band to an outsider so just get on board the bandwagon now as Twelve Foot Ninja are set to take on the world with their combative, chaotic fun.

9.5 Ninja Stars out of 10

Outlier track listing:

1.   One Hand Killing
2.   Sick
3.   Invincible
4.   Oxygen
5.   Collateral
6.   Post Mortem
7.   Point of You
8.   Monsoon
9.   Adios
10. Dig For Bones