Benea Reach: Alleviat (4.5/5)

Year: 2008
Genre: Progressive Polymetric Metal
Label: TABU
TRT: 50:22

This band slipped under my radar a long time, mostly due to me confusing them with the lackluster metalcore band Sinai Beach. However, if I’d only dug a little deeper, I would have instantly sought out their music.

For one thing containing an ex-member of Extol would spark interest regardless, but the descriptions of their unique style of music and list of purported influences would have been cause for immediate investigation. As it is, I acquired them for the loose reason of “they’re kinda like Periphery or Textures”.

This is their sophomore release, and is even better than their impressive debut. Melding elements from such diverse genres as post-hardcore, progressive metal and ambient post-rock, they’ve just about perfected their sound on this release. The vocals are also a highlight among a reel of highlights. I loved Ikkae’s delivery style and tone in his previous band Selfmindead, and always wished he was in a band that did justice to his talent. Wish: Fulfilled.

So having said all that, maybe this will pique your interest: “they’re kinda like Periphery or Textures”.

01 Awakening
02 New Waters
03 Lionize
04 Sentiment
05 Reason
06 Legacy
07 Rejuvenate
08 Illume
09 Zenith
10 Unconditional
11 Dominion

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Unsane: Visqueen (4/5)

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Year: 2007
Genre: Post Hardcore Sludge
Label: Ipecac
TRT: 42:08

Unsane has been around for close to two decades, but I just recently checked them out. As often happens with a band that's been around for so long, one loses the urgency to investigate, and they slowly get lost on an endless list of bands "to check out". So when I saw this cd for $4, I was interested, but when I flipped it over and saw they were now on Mike Patton's label, I was sold, and I bought it.

What I was immediately impressed with was the clear, upfront and meaty basslines found on this disc. Very heavy and mean sounding. The vocals are not usually something I'm fond of, but the throaty yells of Chris Spencer really feel at home here, and fit perfectly. The combination of those things paired with mid-paced and methodical drumming over sludgy, driving guitars make for an experience with an unexpected groove that makes you want to nod your head to the beat, while raising your fist in protest of...anything and everything.

01 Against the Grain
02 Last Man Standing
03 This Stops at the River
04 Only Pain
05 No One
06 Windshield
07 Shooting Clay
08 Line on the Wall
09 Disdain
10 Eat Crow
11 East Broadway

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Tantrum of the Muse: ModernMu$ick(2000)! (5/5)

Year: 2000
Label: Takehold
Genre: Experimental Post-Hardcore
TRT: 44:01

This album was one of my first tastes of truly chaotic music back in 2002, and eight years after it's release, ModernMu$ick(2000)! still holds it's own.

This sophmore (and ultimately, final) release from Stephen Mark Sarro's brainchild delves further into the realm of off-time dissonance than the 1998 debut The Heart is a Two-Headed Sperm, while simultaneously maturing and refining their signuature sound into a cohesive monstrosity.

Both albums deal with the darker side of humanity, but this album is far more subtle in it's attack. Once in an instant messenger conversation, Sarro expressed to me how he hardly refers to himself as a Christian anymore, because of the Church's misdirection and inconsistancy in our day and age. The reluctance of TotM to migrate to Tooth & Nail records once Takehold went under is surely a testament to that. Even if thay had though, I doubt T & N would have kept them for long, as the chorus for 10-10-99 / $Screw the Christian Industry$ would have probably struck a little too close to home:
"...Liars, whores, hypochrites, theives, all in the family of God.
Try and sell this...try and sell this...try and sell this"

01 Bowels of Elkton
02 Went to Hell
03 Chicks W/ Guns
04 Eunuch (The Sinai Orgies)
05 Happy As a Lark
06 Conestoga Cougars
07 10-10-99 / $Screw the Christian Industry$
08 Milk & Meat
09 Victoria Has a Secret
10 Caught With Your Halo Around Your Knees
11 I Bury the Living
12 Chiroptera Armada
13 Send Them the Cow

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