I let him run on, this papier-mache Mephistopheles, and it seemed to me that if I tried I could poke my forefinger through him, and would find nothing inside but a little loose dirt, maybe.
Joseph Conrad
Heart of Darkness
1910
Extreme Mental Abuse
Extreme Mental Abuse
There’s an unfortunate hollowness to both the conception and execution of Extreme Mental Abuse, a side project of Mark Magill of the band SSS. The 20 songs, banged out in 18 minutes, feel rote, as though this were an exercise in genre rather than an honest expression of some innate emotion. Combining Unseen Terror’s infamous bumblebee guitar tone with Excruciating Terror-style attack, Extreme Mental Abuse rail against “Corrupt Government,” “First World Tyranny” and “One World Government,” falling back on conceits that have grown contemptible with familiarity, passed through the hands of several generations of likeminded musicians.
I could forgive well worn lyrics if the music gave me that necessary adrenal jolt, but Extreme Mental Abuse just lack any sense of urgency. While the occasional tune like “Global Stratospheric Obliteration” slams crust into grind like a punk-based Large Hadron Collider, releasing sparks of energy, the rest of the album largely feels monotonous and one-dimensional, lashed to a rickety sounding drum (machine?).
There’s a lot of grind getting banged out all across the globe these days, so it’s going to take a lot to stand out from the slavering hordes of blastbeaten barbarians. This just isn’t lighting up my mojo. You can check it out for yourself at Extreme Mental Abuse’s Bandcamp page.
8 comments:
All those links and not one to the large hadron collider. Does that mean you think we're all smart?
it's always good to flatter your audience, but yes, i have faith in all of you.
you can't do any worse than me because i kept trying to spell it as "large hardon collider" which sounds like a movie you'd see in the wrong end of the back room of your local sleazy video rental store.
I think the overall problem is that he tries too hard to make the most heavy sound possible, same flaw that plagued Brutal Death Metal, character is a must to perk any kind of interest.
I know people hate hearing this, but that's the downfall of "Orphan". It's all intensity, no soul. Feels too clean. Which is asinine because it's all recorded live in one take(each song one take of course).
you think orphan has no soul? that's interesting. it pulls me in because it sounds like matsu is playing the shit out of those songs. there's so much intensity and passion coming through.
That's why I like Hayaino Daisuki. Didn't you read my post!?!? lol
I can for sure agree he fucking rips sounds out of that guitar. It just...misses something.
Regarding Orphan, I think it has soul but quite a fidgety and indecisive one, preferred the edge given by Amber Grey, and Hayaino Daisuki they are both set in their attitudes.
i think it's that anxious energy that makes it so cool. but maybe that's just me. i respond to things like that.
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