Before I start waxing lyrical about Birmingham trio Terminals debut EP “Baptise,” we need to talk about their DIY spirit. Self produced and recorded in an AirBnB, I feel there needs to be a behind the scenes documentary on how this record was made. I want to see how they turned a quaint cottage into a recording studio – you could turn it into a series and get different bands to do their own takes. Imagine Creeper doing the same to an old church. Dream State taking on a high-rise apartment. Instead of Alan Carr and Amanda Holden or Laurence Llewelyn Bowen we have Romesh Dodangoda, Neil Kennedy and Lewis John with guest appearances with Rick Rubin or Butch Vig.
While I go work on my pitch for Netflix lets talk about the EP. While I wouldn’t call the record retro, there is a very 90’s vibe to it all. There is a feeling that Terminals sat down with the greatest alternative records of the era and chose the best bits out of it. The quiet/loud dynamic of early nineties grunge, the bleakness of Radiohead and mid-nineties indie and the heaviness of the late nineties pre-Nu Metal. Vocalist and guitarist James Whitehouse takes all of these influences and mixes the quietness of Thom Yorke, the falsetto of Matt Bellamy and the power of SoundGarden’s Chris Cornell. All in all mixed together to create a really beauty and the beast type of debut. One second there will be glorious melody and softly spoken lyrics with the next a crescendo of noise, heavy riffs and screaming.
There is still some room for some polish from the Brummie three-piece. While the DIY spirit is definitely a positive I believe there is definite room for growth. Baptise is a great debut record that puts the building blocks in place for the future – larger soundscapes, bigger riffs and superior AirBnB’s.