The disappointment of the year.....
W. Stinnett | USA | 01/07/2008
(1 out of 5 stars)
"Being arguably the biggest Cynic/Pestilence/Atheist/Death fan you are likely to encounter (I even loved "Spheres" for crying out loud) I was beyond thrilled when I heard about this project. I was a little apprehensive about the name, but I just figured "What's in a name?" and held out for the music.
Then I heard it.
To call this album a disappointment is like calling a tsunami "high tide".
I tried so hard to like it, believe me. I'm such a pathetic fanboy regarding all the musicians involved (except for the positively vile vocalist), that if anybody was going to stick up for this stuff it would be me. The truth is, I would be literally embarassed for anyone to hear me listening to this drivel....(at least without my flat-brim and oversized wife-beater on, they should ship in some sort of package deal)
Don't get me wrong, it's absolutely top notch musicianship and the guitar solos in particular are fantastic (although hopelessly out of place), but to hear it all in the context of mind-numbingly stupid "gangsta" imagery and adolescent "tough guy" histrionics just renders it all a wasted effort.
Give me an instrumental version titled "Track 1, Track 2, etc." and I might suffer through a few listens. I'd probably still be put off pretty quickly by the all-too-frequent regurgitated nu-metal riffs, but at least I could enjoy a few hints of musical virtuosity here and there without being pelted with what can only be described as the intellectual inferior of Fred Durst barking nonsense at me incessantly.
I'd also like to point out that this album has not one, but TWO songs that include the word "Murda" in the title. I have a self-imposed limit on the number of songs titles containing the word "Murda" that I will tolerate on one album and that number is zero.
Incidentally, there is also a song called "Homicide". Did anybody else notice that? I thought I was onto something crafty, so after hearing the song "Strapped With Heat", I was searching the title list for a track called "In Possession of a Concealed Firearm" but it wasn't there. So much for that....
"
They missed the mark this time
The NewReview | USA | 12/14/2009
(2 out of 5 stars)
"Let me start off with telling you who's in this band: guitarist Patrick Mameli (Pestilence), bassist Tony Choy (Cynic, Pestilence, Atheist), drummer Sean Reinert (Death, Cynic), and vocalist Tony Jelencovich (M.A.N, Transport League, Mnemic). Sounds great already, right? Well, slow down there, speedy!
First and foremost, I don't want to discredit the musicianship of any of these guys because they are all extremely talented and great at what they do. That being said, I feel that it's a strange mix on this album. There's a ton of influences going on in the music. I heard traces of hardcore, groove, rapcore, fusion, jazz, and flat out "Punch yourself in the face" metal! And all those influences in their own genre are fine, but to throw them all together in one album is a tough feat, and one that missed the mark this time. Mix all the sounds with the vocals (just read the song titles) and you have an extremely bizarre listening experience.
Now, I do want to point out a couple good things in this cd. Quite honestly, subtract the jazz, the fusion, and the vocals, and this cd could've been really taken in another direction. The rhythm and grooves in just about every song are great! There's also some really great guitar riffs throughout the entire album, but then the jazz solo's seemed to kick in, and the mood was killed for me. There's also a certain angst in the songs that, quite honestly, if I were 13 or 14 years old I might have loved.
If you choose, to listen to this cd, which, given the lineup, you may still want to do, I would recommend at least checking out "Life is Dead." There's some really tight grooves in that song. You should also check out, "P.C.P. (Murda in Ma Head)." Fast beats, raging riffs, and a decent aggression level combine for a pretty tight song!
I have to say that with the lineup of musicians in this band, I've been left pretty disappointed. Especially, when I saw Tony "Tony JJ" Jelencovich as vocalist. I love his other project, M.A.N, so I was stoked to hear more from him. Wow, I don't feel like I've said anything really good about this album, and maybe it's just not for me. I would never say to not listen to a cd, because I'm not you, but you may want to go into this with some reservations about what you're going to hear.
OUR RATING
(2/5)"
Track Listings (14) - Disc #1