TRANSCENDING BIZZARE? - "The Four Scissors" - 3.5/5
http://www.mediafire.com/?
Being a huge fan of Post, Black, and Avant-Garde this review might be a little biased but Ill try to leave that at the door for this.
The opening track entitled Satteliete Souls is one of the trippiest things I have ever heard. I wish I had some pot or shrooms for this. Sober its a little to slow for my liking and doesnt devolp much over the 2 and a half minutes it plays. The original synth beat loops continuously in the background a few times before a simple drum beat kicks in, followed by another weird ass synth loop. 2/5
After the first track I was hoping there would be a change in pace, and the second track did not disappoint. This song takes on a more straight up Black Metal approach, but throws in so weird synth beats, some that resemble carnival music, and some old 8 bit arcade style noises. It also mixes in some female vocals which fit surprisingly well. 4/5, only missing one point because of a monotonous drum beat. 4/5
The third track starts off with an interesting drum line and some heavily distorted vocals. Following a similar style to the first track, BM with weird ass effects thrown in. This song manages to have a melodic solo that doesnt sound out of place in this song, yet could fit into a movie like Top Gun. Think "Chariots of Fire" type sound, just epic. The guitar tone in places reminds me of the guitar on the level Metal Harbor in Sonic Adventure 2. Then it goes into another epic victory type solo by guitar to have it mimicked by the synth after a short time. 5/5
Fourth track, also the title track, starts off with a Gothic Metal styled synth over some blast beats that mellow out after a little, before we hear some vocals that sound like a computer talking. THis track shows a reintroduction of the female vocals that were on track one, though they are the featured vocal style for the track, with the second half of the song lacking almost all vocals. 4/5
Now we come to the halfway point, number 5. This track features some of the best drumming so far, IMO. It takes on more of an industrial sound that reminds me of Rammstein with the occasional opera styled female vocals. This track has battling synth and guitar riffs, playing a few bars from each before switching to the other. 4/5
Track six now, this is a fairly short album coming in at just over a half hour. This song starts off with a slow build to some nice opera vocals and a pounding guitar riff right after a frame of opera. Again some very interesting drumming in this song, and some more melodic soloing, though of a less epic sort. There is some sort of mechanical speaking in the background, that seems to be more for atmosphere that lyrics. About two thirds of the way through we get a nice synth breakdown a-la Genghis Tron styled. followed by another spectacular, though short, melodic solo. The opera vocals are present through most of the track. The last 20 or so seconds are of great 2nd wave BM style, that remind me of Darkthrone but with good production. 5/5
Number seven is a nice short song, clocking in at 1:38. It starts of with a spoken into, similar to Anaal Nathrakh's "Do Not Speak", before going into an Immortal style riff. Throwing in some Techno sounds for good measure. Again the drums are somewhat repetitive. 4/5
Track eight starts off with a nice spoken intro again, followed by a nice 2nd wave BM riff. Again we hear a weird as fuck synth breakdown that would not be out of place on a Genghis Tron album and some more integration of the female vocals, which work surprisingly well. Another epic melodic solo is in this song. A decent song but not one of the better on the album. 3/5
Track eight's title is a play on Bach's "Sheep May Safely Graze" titled "Wolves May Safely Graze." I have no idea how this sounds compared to Bach's song as I havent listened to it in years, I just remembered the title. This starts out with an almost Arch Enemy styled riff before going into more carnival sounding synth. Again I find the drums to be fairly boring for most of the track, around the 1:30 mark there is an interesting little patch. The female vocals seem less inspired here and almost forced onto the track. There is a pretty cool keyboard riff/solo around 2:20 and after that the song gets better I think. At about 3:30 there comes in an almost Celtic sounding part for a few seconds, and is one of my favorite portions on the album. 4/5 even after a slow start. 4/5
Here we are, the final track. Opens up with some bells and violin/cello(not completely sure which) music in the background. Fairly down tempo for the first half, before randomly picking up for a few frames, then back down. Interesting use of opera vocals in some weird language. This slow song manages to keep my attention unlike the first one, but still a weaker track. 2.5/5
Overall I was VERY impressed with this album. It manages to be extremely weird, yet cohesive. Fairly melodic and still heavy. Fans of all genres can find something to like on this album, though it does have some VERY weird parts that could defiantly steer someone away. The opening and closing tracks really detract from this album I think, they just dont fit in very well with the rest of it.
By M. Angell
Comments