Reviewed by Greg Sammons

See, I don't get what all the fuss over Mastodon is about. I bought their last album, after heaps of critical acclaim was piled out on it, and came out the other side totally nonplussed. And so when I say this band reminds me of Mastodon (technical thrash meets death metal with unusual time signatures) its bound not to score high in my own personal taste. And on the first play of this album I just didn't get it at all. Sure, it's strong, it's powerful - it really could and should blow you away - but for me it just went completely over my head. The vocals however are pretty impressive, Blaze Pearson really does have a strong and passionate voice. On a second listen you start to appreciate the musicianship and talent that went into this release and considering these songs are taken from demos made in 2003 and 2004 you know they are bound to hone things in more on their next project. Also, because this release is lifted from demos that perhaps explains why the production at times is not as good as what I've got used to. If it was an album that I enjoyed, the below par production wouldn't bother me that much but after a couple more plays it still didn't hit home for me. Great musicianship and brutal vocals don't always produce the goods, and in my opinion here is a perfect example.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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