Weird stuff. From crazy technical math metal, to frantic grinding abrasiveness with lots of stuttered rhythms and oddball time signatures, to jangly clean guitars, or even slow and sludgy dirges... It's just weird stuff. Some of the riffs these guys crank out are stellar, but I have to confess that I find their songwriting to be less than enjoyable, and stupid ass song titles like "Cock of Dan" and "Hulk Rulz" leave me with little to no interest in this band aside from the surface level intrigue provided by their musical abilities and generally original approach. Scathing vocal screams show up now and then, and they even bring in guest musicians on a handful of tracks, incorporating brief passages of horns or strings, etc. The recording is pretty rough around the edges, but not enough to really hinder their performances per se. You can hear all of the instruments for the most part, and despite some messiness in the mix they tend to get the job done. I definitely think a cleaner recording would benefit the complex side of their writing, but I can live with this. Portions of the layout are alright, the abstract cover and minimal use of text are nice, but the font used is pretty terrible, and the inner spread of the booklet is less interesting. I guess my biggest problem with this record is the way the band carries themselves. That's just my personal opinion, but I tend to fucking hate "humor" in music, especially when the musicians are competent and tend to have a lot working in their favor. To throw that away with a silly sort of attitude is just a waste, especially because the song titles and shit that these guys dish out aren't even funny. If they were actually funny or there was some sort of consistent air of sarcasm hovering about it, then it would be perhaps more suitable. But what you end up with here is a half decent CD full of crazy music, some killer riffs, and some noisy junk. I could see this band doing some totally insane work, but who knows?
[self-released]
Running time - 29:01, Tracks: 14
[Notable tracks: Hulk Rulz, It Came Out of My Mouth as it Came Onto My Hands, This All Knowing Intelligence (Fistfucking to the Second Happenstance)]
The Abodox - http://www.theabodox.com
