The Time Of The Assassins

Bio

Press

“Melbourne’s morose post-punk outfit The Time Of The Assassins may well be the Devil’s soundtrack. Potent fury abounds on 'Awake In Slumberland'. (Named album of the week) - Brag Magazine (Sydney)

“ 'I take art with deadly seriousness', said Aspen Michael Taylor, guitarist-singer for the Time of the Assassins, in an interview. His attitude helps explain the Melbourne band’s severity—which is so unblinking and focused that it actually feels exhilarating.
The Time of the Assassins’ debut full-length, 2007’s 'Awake in Slumberland', sounds black and gray, like relentless rain across a stormy sky; you can’t call it fun, but it is gripping. And it’s been a long while since we’ve heard the kind of anguished, cathartic wailing that bassist Carisa Bianca Mellado lets out on 'Prayer'. The deadly seriousness Taylor speaks of is best illustrated in the particularly ferocious 'Bones', during which Mellado screams: “We are going to hell HELL HELL HELL!” in between shards of guitar straight out of 'Death Valley ’69'–era Sonic Youth. — Time Out (New York)

“. . . A sensational debut record full of intricate and winding rock songs. Any band brave enough to take this many risks deserves plenty of accolades. This album’s a total standout” (8/10) - Blunt Magazine (Australia) review of 'Awake In Slumberland'

"The crowd might not have been quite ready for the bombastic and experimental sounds of an avant-garde group like the Time of Assassins. Booked on an oddly mismatched bill, they were bound to create a stir once they took the stage. Both brutal and atmospheric, this band picks the listener up by the britches to offer up a swift sonic kick. Stunning chanteuse-bassist Carisa Bianca Mellado is a she-devil siren, singing a gentle and eerie lullaby one moment then soaring to tortured limits the next, a woman possessed and shrieking. Guitarist-vocalist Aspen Michael Taylor pushes the logical limits of his instrument’s duties, slamming his pedals with his fists and creating loops of incomprehensible feedback. It might sound like music for the inferno, indeed, in their song “Bones,” Mellado croons “All aboard! We are going to hell!” However, their music demonstrates unique skill and originality, passion and intensity. Having played only a handful of songs to this bewildered audience, they managed to effectively level the room."
(Live show review: The Knitting Factory, Los Angeles, May 1 2008) Natasha Desianto, Campus Circle (USA)

“The Time of the Assassins have, to my mind, crafted some of the most elegantly visceral, densely minimalist and violently beautiful guitar-based music of recent years. And if reports of their recent live shows are anything to go by, the initiation is even more incendiary and sublime when directly assaulting neophyte ears at a punishing volume. some of the most compellingly intravenous rock songs I’ve ever heard”. - Transform Online (UK)

“In a time where rock without substance, and punk without ethics reigns supreme, I wouldn’t be the first to feel like the rough edges in music were fading away. For those that like to be challenged by music, rather than entertained, it’s fair to say that in the live music scene right now, the pickings are pretty slim. But salvation is at hand in the form of Melbourne three-piece, The Time Of The Assassins”. - Pretty Ugly Zine (Australia)

LINKS