PATH TO HOCMA

Some people put this as one of their top albums of 2010, but this is, in my opinion one of the worst. I'm a fan of avant-garde music, but I don't think it blends well with metal. "We're Only in it for the Money" by Frank Zappa is one of my favorite Zappa albums, and that is pretty avant-garde, but it is not metal so it has a much more light and airier feel to it. But, when it is mixed with metal, it has a screeching and halting tone and rhythm to it.

The vocals on this album are not to my taste at all. It's a mix between screaming and regular vocals. This would be fine, or at least better than it is, if it didn't grate so much with the guitars. Also it just sounds plain bad. The screaming isn't even that good because it is way too high pitched and a little flat.

One thing that saves this album a little bit is that the drums and guitars are very solid. On the song "The Swamp, it starts off very cool with a guitar lick and some very solid drumming by David Pisabarro. Also the bass riff adds a lot to this track, too. I thought this song was going to be very good, in relation to the others, but then his vocals had to ruin another relatively good song. This time though his screams are a little better, since they are lower and more controlled. In parts they also more resemble growls, which I like a lot.

The avant-garde feel of this album is okay, to say the best. The odd beats and rhythms are kind of good. In songs like "The Swamp", "The Brigit Mountains", and "The Desert of the Real" this makes it a little better. In "The Desert of the Real" and "The Swamp" he uses the triangle to offer that avant-garde feel.

That's the only thing that I can appreciate from this album. That it tries to be avant-garde. I don't not like it because it is avant-garde; I don't like it because none of his vocals, or much else for that matter, are relatively good. If David Pisabarro would just stop singing, and focus more on just making instrumental songs I can see his future albums being much better. But, for this disappointing release that I only picked up because I heard it was good, 413 gets 2 stars.

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