Demented instrumental metal power trio
If you're a geek for the mathy, jazzy, rhythmically insane side of metal (I am!), then Blotted Science's line-up should have you giggling and drooling about the potential of The Machinations of Dementia (which is a great album name because it is cryptic, evil sounding, and alludes to machinery and the destruction of the mind at the same time). Ron Jarzombek, the mastermind behind the project, has been tinkering with music theory and torturing guitars for over twenty years now. Accompanying him are Behold... The Arctopus drummer Charlie Zeleny and Cannibal Corpse bassist Alex Webster.
The result is an album as wacky and impressive as you'd expect. As Ron Jarzombek's attempt at "extreme metal", Blotted Science is much heavier than his previous projects. The Machinations of Dementia is crammed-to-overflowing with pummeling riffs (vaguely resembling Meshuggah's), demented shredding, prog and jazz fusion influenced spaciness, and, of course, sheer musical proficiency. Though it occasionally resembles a Vai-ish guitar hero project, very little about the album is masturbatory or pointless; Ron Jarzombek displays a strong ability for writing songs and energetic, groovy riffs (things I definitely felt were missing from Spastic Ink). The only hindrance to the album is that the production/musical interplay is a little on the sterile side, although that might be personal preference; I tend to favour live recordings of musician-type groups.
As 60 minutes heavy, dense, instrumental music, The Machinations of Dementia might be somewhat overwhelming for those not obsessed with the style. Having heard a lot of progressive and technical metal, I can say it is some of the best around, even if it sometimes takes two sittings to get through the album. Recommended, required even, for fans of technical metal.
| Reviewer: Jeff Mcquiggan Added: November 5th 2007 |
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