American Heritage "Bipolar" CD
[Escape Artist]
This is said to be a collection of new and unreleased material, but I think some of it has been previously released (I know at least one song was on their split CD with Foe and Art of Burning Water, maybe in different form), I just can't find any documentation anywhere that would cite where the tracks may have appeared in the past. Regardless, this disc contains an hour's worth of varied material from math rock to sludgy rhythms to more involved and openly metallic runs to acerbically noisy passages, all using lots of winding riffs, quick changes, and fucked up time signatures. A large amount of the material is instrumental, with awesome vocals on occasion (furious shouts that border on a growled sort of aesthetic), and there are shitloads of killer drum fills all over the place along with heavy basslines that really pop out and keep up with the guitars perfectly. Among the more intriguing moments, "Phil Collins" brings in some amazing dissonant riffs that really jump out from the pack big time, which I love, and some of that interesting discordance rears its head in other tracks like "Spina Bifida" as well - with vocal accompaniment making things all the more forceful. Shit, there are even some borderline hardcore runs in "Ass to Ass!"!? "Forget" runs more than seven minutes and is slower and much doomier than the other tracks, standing apart as the truest original in the bunch. It's among those with less beefiness to its recording, which is a bit unfortunate, but the massive bass presence and force of the riffs carries through nonetheless. "E" is another that breaks into some unexpected hardcore sounding chord progressions with more speed and brief hits of straightforward energy before reverting to all of the twisted time signatures and back and forth chops. Good stuff. Admittedly some of the more typical sounding math metal grooves with similar tempos and arrangements and all that pull-off riffing stuff can get tiresome in some of the longer songs that top five or six minutes, so I'd rather they focus on the more creative or forceful passages as mentioned in "Phil Collins" or "Forget", but their overall variety does overcome. There are four brief unlisted tracks at the end of the disc, all around two minutes less, the first of which is a cover of Black Flag's "No More" - complete with maniacal yelling vocals that sound very unlike the band's usual approach. I assume the other songs are covers as well since most of them sound like old hardcore/punk tunes, but I can't place the other three. They all kick ass though, so screw it. Despite the fact that a few different recording sessions are represented herein, the listen is pretty cohesive overall. The bulk of the tracks have a nice mix with warm tones that possess the right balance of controlled heaviness, grit, clarity, and raw looseness. The rhythm section always tends to sound incredible, as do the vocals when employed, while some tracks do let the guitars get a little thin, but none of that affects the continuity at all, which is a rarity with any sort of collection disc. The layout looks fucking great to me, using minimal text and lots of stark imagery of raw meat suspended from hooks and wire with lots of scribbled text and spattered ink. That's all there is to it really, sans a brief list of credits for the different recording sessions represented. Sadly no lyrics are included for the few tracks that actually employ them, but that's life. If this was a typical full-length record it'd be a little too long for its own good, but as a collection that makes sense, and it's pretty damn effective regardless. I wish there was more information included as to the dates of the recording sessions, where the songs originally appeared (if anywhere), etc. - but as a listen? This is definitely recommended to those who like it rhythmic and technical, without being flashy or overbearing at all. There's a lot of meat on this thing (no pun intended with regards to the artwork), and the band could do some serious damage for sure if they press on. (7/10)
Running time - 59:14, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Phil Collins, Spina Bifida, Forget, No More]
Escape Artist Records - http://www.escapeartistrecords.com

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