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From HouseofHorrors.com Recent Reviews CD: The Fall of Ideals I open the CD case… I take the CD out of the case… I put the CD in the player tray… I push the "play" button… …and I am immediately assaulted by a wonderfully vicious combination of drums, bass, guitars, and… screaming. At first I think, "Crap! Another modern metal band where the vocalist only grunts semi-unintelligible lyrics like a histrionic caveman." BUT… upon further listening, I was greatly surprised and relieved that my initial conception was a misconception. The grunting vocals are offset by melodic and lyrical vocals. In addition, the production on the grunting vocals is very cool… and very different from any deathmetalesque vocal I have ever heard before. The genius behind. the mixing console (and I am serious here, I’m not being a dick) put a touch of delay (echo to non-production geek types) on the grunt vocal. This makes them overall more palatable to the ear, and increases the impact of the lyrics. My hat is off the man or woman in the studio session that made this decision. Next I notice that this drummer is a MACHINE. He pounds the double kick drums and holds down the tempo with his hi-hats or his rides with impeccable attention to timing. Damn! This guy is good. The machine-gun double kick drums remind me of Mike Portnoy from Dream Theatre with a side of Neil Peart and John Bonham… to go. I must mention here that the disk has the bands first names listed behind the disk catch. The case is transparent, so you can read everything, but there are no instrument affiliations given with the names. But I can tell you the band member’s names: Phil, Oli, Mike Martin, and Jeanne. Sorry I don’t know what instruments you each play, but your CD kicks my ass! I went out to the web site to get this info, but my browser would not bring the site down, and I had to get this out. Anyway, so many times bass guitar players are over looked, and this is a huge mistake. What would Van Halen be without Michael Anthony’s solid playing and trade mark backing vocals? Or how ‘bout Billy Sheehan or Geddy Lee for God’s sake? This bass player is SOLID. And he is either very smooth with his pick, or he has incredibly strong fingers. Or maybe both, I can’t tell because the bass sticks to the drums so tight. The job definitely gets done! And finally… the guitars. The guitars are reminiscent of the late 1980’s style of alternate picking and actually having talent and a great tone. Something which most of the crap put out after 1992 has been sorely lacking. But these guitars are a breath of fresh air. The obvious talent of the musicians, combined with more excellent studio production, comes through loud and clear. The double leads with harmonies are tight and very well executed. Finally, a band with guitar players who aren’t afraid to step and shred again! Two words: "Thank you!" Two more words (plus one) for the readers: "Buy this disk!" Especially new guitar players who want to check out some blistering guitar harmonies executed in a more modern format. Check out Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Queensryche to get an idea of how it all started. But then listen to this disk front to back to get a 21st century take on the dual guitar feel. © Copyright by HouseofHorrors.com |
