Tracks
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I'd like to start by saying I really like a few songs on this album. "On the Shore" is easily my favorite, although I wish they would have created an acoustic version of it. They could've called it the "Sleep-Well Version" lol.
I'm giving this album so few stars because Justin Kier is practicing the drumming that dare-not speak its name... partly because we don't have a name for it yet, but srsly. DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a, BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT mindless, monotonous, one-dimensional slamming that anyone with three months of drum experience and a bad temper could easily do. It doesn't suit such a talented metal band as Otep. Some say metal drummers are doing that these days so as not to distract you from the guitars, but that's nonsense. Staind has never once done that, and their guitars are always at the forefront of my attention. My policy is to remove one star for every song in which the drummer uses anything that sounds like that (and now you know why most of my BFMV album reviews only get one star...) no matter how much I might otherwise enjoy an album. I want artists to see that cop-out drumming is not enough and none of their musicians have an excuse not to be creative.
This album is pretty interesting, despite my complaints about the rhythm section. It even has some elements of what feels like hip-hop in the music happening in songs like "More Fire" and "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts."
Otep is always political, but something about this album feels like it demands attention more so than previous works I've heard by them. Shamaya's "performance personality," if you will, has always had a strong psychotic mannerism to it. Songs like "Smash the Control Machine," "Rise, Rebel, Resist!" and "Confrontation" are a total blitzkrieg. They feel like somebody called-in an air-strike on your ears, and that's great (they're actually favorites of mine,) but if your personality isn't already intense enough to keep-up with the vicious rigour of it, you'll probably just think "Ho-kayyy, somebody call the men in white coats. This one's a keeper!
I'm giving this album so few stars because Justin Kier is practicing the drumming that dare-not speak its name... partly because we don't have a name for it yet, but srsly. DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a-DIK-a, BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT-BLAT mindless, monotonous, one-dimensional slamming that anyone with three months of drum experience and a bad temper could easily do. It doesn't suit such a talented metal band as Otep. Some say metal drummers are doing that these days so as not to distract you from the guitars, but that's nonsense. Staind has never once done that, and their guitars are always at the forefront of my attention. My policy is to remove one star for every song in which the drummer uses anything that sounds like that (and now you know why most of my BFMV album reviews only get one star...) no matter how much I might otherwise enjoy an album. I want artists to see that cop-out drumming is not enough and none of their musicians have an excuse not to be creative.
This album is pretty interesting, despite my complaints about the rhythm section. It even has some elements of what feels like hip-hop in the music happening in songs like "More Fire" and "Equal Rights, Equal Lefts."
Otep is always political, but something about this album feels like it demands attention more so than previous works I've heard by them. Shamaya's "performance personality," if you will, has always had a strong psychotic mannerism to it. Songs like "Smash the Control Machine," "Rise, Rebel, Resist!" and "Confrontation" are a total blitzkrieg. They feel like somebody called-in an air-strike on your ears, and that's great (they're actually favorites of mine,) but if your personality isn't already intense enough to keep-up with the vicious rigour of it, you'll probably just think "Ho-kayyy, somebody call the men in white coats. This one's a keeper!